Forever
by diddykongfan
Summary: Emma faces a difficult decision in regards to her love life and discovers Storybrooke's best kept secret. Series of interconnected one-shots. (Mostly) Post-Neverland, although no spoilers since it hasn't happened yet. Part Two will have season two spoilers (sort of). Main pairings: Gremma, Red Hook, eventually Henry/Grace. Rated T to be safe.
1. Part One - Forever

_Forever_

**A/N: (mostly) post-Neverland (I know it hasn't happened yet, all I'm really going to assume about it is that they are successful). The rescue party returns to Storybrooke shortly after Bae/Neal, Aurora, Phillip, and Mulan make it there from the Enchanted Forest. Emma faces a difficult decision in regards to her love life and discovers Storybrooke's best kept secret. Gremma, with hints of Captain Swan and Swantheif/Swanfire (for drama, not as serious possibilities). (The name of this fic, "Forever," also happens to be the name of a Rascal Flatts song that gives me all sorts of Gremma feels. Seriously, go look up the lyrics if you don't know it.) THIS IS ONLY PART ONE. THERE ARE MORE PARTS TO COME, INCLUDING ONE THAT IS KILLIAN-CENTRIC BECAUSE I KNOW I HAVEN'T DONE HIM JUSTICE IN THIS PART. So don't get mad. Please.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Once Upon a Time, Graham never would have died in the first place, and he and Emma would probably be married by now, and Neal and Bae would not be the same person, and did you see that time Tamara killed Pinocchio, who was made out of wood, with electricity? Yeah, that wouldn't have happened because it was stupid. Also Robin Hood's role would have been worthy of all that advertising before Lacey and I would have moved heaven and earth to have him played by Jonas Armstrong. But since none of the above statements are true, you can clearly see that I don't own it. Sadly.**

_May, 2012, The Forest, Storybrooke, Maine_

His return to consciousness is swift, but he does not wish to open his eyes. He has not dreamt in a very long time – since before, even, he was tasked with the murder he could not commit – but he prefers sleeping to waking. When he is awake, the Queen does unspeakable things to him.

But then a familiar wet nose is pressed into his hand, a tongue licking him lazily.

His brother?

Impossible. He has not seen his brother since… Since the Queen's men brought him to her.

He opens his eyes and finds he is in a forest he does not recognize.

A near impossibility in and of itself, since he knows all the forests of the kingdom like the back of his hand.

His heart is beating a mile a… His heart?

With the realization that he has his heart back, he bolts upright. Save his brother, he recognizes nothing around him.

His brother stands and waits for him to do the same. He is a little unsteady on his feet.

His brother leads him through the forest and shows him to a nearby town. The signs say "Storybrooke." He hides in the shadows, watching. The people are in a bit of a frenzy. He sees and recognizes Snow – whose hair is far too short, for some reason – and her prince. They both look very different.

With them is a blonde woman and a child and his heart thumps harder though he cannot even see her face, does not know who she might be.

His brother nudges him, as though encouraging him to go to them, but he cannot do that. He does not know why… He does not know why he _wants_ to go to her, be close to this woman he doesn't recognize, but he _does_ and that frightens him.

He returns to the forest.

_Present Day, Jolly Roger, Storybrooke Harbor, Storybrooke, Maine_

As the little town grows larger and larger in Emma's field of vision, a familiar arm wraps around her waist. Her parents had not been happy about her "relationship" with Captain Hook – if it could even be called that – but they'd reluctantly accepted that she was a grown woman.

"Swan," he whispers, placing a kiss on her neck, "Stay with me, love."

Emma freezes. She understands what he is asking. Forever.

She isn't sure she is ready to give him that. Commitment… Commitment has never been her strong suit. There have only ever been two men in her life she's seen herself committing to like that… She shuts that train of thought down quickly. One had left her willingly, the other not so much, and then the first had come back into her life only to leave her once more. If either were to come back now – something she is sure is impossible – only the second might she still consider "forever" with and be as sure about as before his untimely death.

No, she is not ready to contemplate _forever_ in regards to Killian Jones. It brings back too many memories of the other man with blue eyes and an Irish accent that she lost right when she realized he _could_ be forever.

"Give me time to think about it?" she requests, thankful her voice has not left her totally.

"Aye, lass. All the time you need," he says, giving her another kiss and then heading back to the helm, where Henry has been steering, just like the last time they sailed into port on this ship.

She disembarks quickly, probably too quickly granted that she still has sea legs, but she's _so glad_ to be back in Storybrooke, because it's _home_. And then Red is there with Dr. Whale and hugging her and something that the woman says stops her short.

"You'll never believe it!" Red smiles, "Neal didn't die when he fell down the portal, and Aurora and Phillip and Mulan rescued him and they all just got here from the Enchanted Forest!"

Everyone looks surprised at the announcement, and none look happier than Henry, and then Neal is running up to them and he takes her in his arms and says "Emma Swan, will you marry me?"

Snow and David exchange a panicked look, Regina barely suppresses a laugh, Hook hides his anger quite well, and Emma, confronted by two offers of forever in ten minutes, wrenches herself from his grasp and flees.

Her sea legs don't prevent her from finding the Sheriff's office and locking the door, sinking to the floor and hyperventilating.

Her eyes land on the worn leather jacket that she'd tried to refuse when Gold offered it to her. He had apparently snuck in and hung it on the coat rack shortly afterwards, and she'd never had the heart to get rid of it.

She stands when she has calmed significantly and walks over to the jacket, shrugging it on. If _he _was still around, if _he_ had given her an offer of forever to compete with these two others, she knows she would say yes to it.

She would say yes to it in an instant.

She ducks out of the office the back way, still wearing his jacket, and heads for the Storybrooke cemetery, quickly finding the grave that simply reads "Graham Humbert, Beloved Sheriff" and sinking down in front of it.

"I love you, Graham," she whispers, tracing the letters of his name, "God, I love you. Forever."

She looks up over the tombstone only to meet the eyes of that wolf, that wolf that led them to Regina's family mausoleum, that wolf that made her crash into the Storybrooke sign, that wolf with one black and one red eye.

The wolf makes a small bark, then turns and starts walking to the woods. Emma follows, curious.

She nearly loses him a few times, but it is when she reaches the t(r)oll bridge clearing that she comes to a stop.

A familiar figure is hunched down, giving the wolf a good scratching behind the ears.

"Where have you been, brother?" _he_ asks, and his voice is so much the same that she dares to believe, for a moment, that she isn't hallucinating.

She steps into the clearing, and a branch cracks underfoot.

He looks up at her and there is no recognition in his eyes. And why should she have expected there to be? Surely, if he remembered her, he wouldn't have banished himself to the forest.

He looks back down to the wolf, eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

"Brother," he says, "Did you lead her here?"

"He did," Emma answers for the wolf.

"He has tried leading me to you before," he admits, "You are friends with Snow White and her prince?"

"Well… I mean… They're my parents," Emma replies, not sure he will believe her. Sometimes she still has a hard time believing it herself and he clearly doesn't remember Storybrooke.

He stands and comes closer, looking her over.

"Yes, I see the resemblance," he says after a moment, "You have your mother's chin. And her eyes."

"You saved her life," Emma says, "Right? I was told… You gave up your heart for hers."

"I did," he nods, "somehow it is back now."

"Why do you stay out here in the woods?" Emma asks, "You would be more than welcome in town. Well, everyone but Regina would welcome you in town and her opinion doesn't really matter all that much anymore…"

"This is my world," he says, and Emma recalls in an instant their search for her father while the curse was still in place, "What is that place? It is like no town I have ever seen before."

"Regina cast a curse," Emma explains, "Everyone from the Enchanted Forest was brought here, without their memories, and frozen in time for 28 years. I broke her curse a while back. Almost two years, now."

"That's when I woke up here in the forest with my heart back," he says, stepping into her personal space, their faces so close all she would have to do to kiss him is tilt her head a little and lean in.

"I remember her talking about a curse," he continues, breath tickling her face, "but nothing between her casting it and waking up in the forest with my heart back. Why?"

"I don't know much about how magic works," Emma says, not wanting to tell him that he died in her arms.

"And why does my brother keep trying to lead us together?" he asks.

"I don't know," Emma says, knowing that he would never believe her saying they were True Love, "I've seen your brother before. He made me stay in town when I first came here. And then I saw him again today and it seemed like he wanted me to follow him and he led me to you."

"Three times he has tried to lead me to you," he says, "And today he leads you to me?"

"Do you have a name?" she tries changing the subject.

"No," he says, "Those of us raised by wolves tend not to have names. But you must have one, Princess."

"Emma," she breathes, feeling silly introducing herself to the man she loves more than anyone except her child – her parents included.

"Emma," he repeats after her, and the sound of her name in his accent goes straight to her head and she presses her lips to his firmly.

One of his arms wraps around her waist, pulling her in and molding her to him as he deepens the kiss, clearly acting on instinct. His free hand tangles in her hair as she wraps her arms around his shoulders.

"Graham?" she squeaks hopefully when he breaks the kiss and the look in his eyes is exactly like that night in the station, so full of love and awe, because she remembers all too well that he had remembered when she kissed him that night – she remembers every single detail of that night, it's seared into her brain far too painfully.

"I remember," he says again, just like that night, then his eyebrows furrow in confusion, "How is this possible? I was dead."

"I really have _no_ idea," Emma smiles widely, "But I'm glad it is."

"I am too," he agrees, taking her hand in his.

"Let's go home," Emma suggests, resting her head on his shoulder as they start walking back towards the town.

"Home?" he says, "Emma, you are my home."

Her smile grows even wider on her face, something she thought impossible.

"That may be," she says, "but I have two other guys to break up with, and Henry has missed you, and I haven't had a decent meal in months because I've been in Neverland. Granny's is calling my name."

They emerge from the woods near the hospital, where Emma is surprised to see most everyone she left at the docks. She lifts her head from Graham's shoulder but does not drop his hand.

"Sheriff!" Henry calls, clearly excited, then runs and crushes Graham in a hug. Emma sees that Hook and Neal are both glaring at the man by her side, and she does drop his hand momentarily to allow him to hug Henry back.

"Hey, buddy," Graham says, "Good to see you."

Emma walks over to the other two men in her life, regretting only that she has to hurt them.

"Em, what's going on?" Neal asks, and she wonders briefly if Hook mentioned their relationship, which would make this even more awkward.

"I love him," she says, cutting to the chase, "I could never admit it, but I have loved him from the moment I met him. I thought he was dead – he has a grave out in the cemetery and everything. You…" she is addressing both of them, and from the looks of it they both understand, "You asked me for forever, and I panicked and I went to his grave. And there was a wolf there, a wolf that I hadn't seen since the day I thought he died, and it lead me to him. And I have a second chance with him, a miracle second chance with him, and I just can't give that up. When I kissed him, before, he remembered his life from before the curse…"

"True Love's Kiss," Hook interrupts, his voice cold.

Neal looks pained when Hook says it and for a moment she thinks it was a mistake not breaking it off with them in a more private fashion, rather than both at once, but she hadn't anticipated seeing them so soon.

"Okay," Neal says, surprising her, "Em, all I want is to know you're happy, and if he's your happiness… You shouldn't feel bad about being with him instead of me. I kind of screwed you over, I don't deserve you. I mean, I held out hope, all this time, and then when you said you loved me and I wasn't dead I thought, you know, if I ever got back to you I might have a shot, but, obviously, I was wrong."

Hook says nothing, and she is grateful.

She turns and sees her parents and son talking to Graham and smiles at the sight. Regina is, thankfully, staying back, away from him (she's almost positive that if Regina goes near Graham, ever again, she _will_ kill the Queen). He does not appear entirely comfortable, surrounded by everyone, and she knows the feeling. She returns to his side quickly and when she takes his hand she feels him relax.

He stays by her side as they all go through the health checks that apparently Dr. Whale insisted the entire group fresh back from Neverland take (though Rumplestiltskin had apparently refused steadfastly and went straight to his shop to find Belle), and she can feel everyone's eyes on them every time he sneaks a kiss. Her father seems just as upset as he had been when it was Hook she was with, even if her mother is so much happier; Regina and Neal both seem to be envious, for whatever reason – she understands in Neal's case, sort of, and in Regina's she assumes it has something to do with the fact that Graham is alive after having his heart crushed to dust and Daniel, whose story she's heard bits and pieces of, is not; Henry is the happiest she's ever seen him, and Hook is silently fuming in anger.

She hates that she didn't listen to her head and not get involved with the pirate, because she hates hurting him like this, but given the choice she will always choose Graham – he is the first man who ever chose _her_.

…

Emma and Graham are walking towards Granny's when the glare finally leaves David's face. Hook has gone back to his ship, Neal has taken Henry back to Granny's with him, and Regina has gone who knows where. His wife is by his side and his daughter is going on a date with a man he thought was dead and the only reason he is smiling is that she is _not_ headed to the ship with the pirate.

"She's an adult, Charming, we had this conversation," Snow elbows him gently.

"And I've never seen someone change their mind about who they want to be with so quickly."

"Change her mind? No. She didn't change her mind. If she'd known before today that Graham was alive, Hook wouldn't have been able to touch her with a ten-foot pole. You weren't there for her when he died, but I was. Their connection was so undeniable and then he died in her arms. It was bad. She wouldn't admit it, but half the reason that she wanted to be Sheriff is because he picked her to be deputy and that meant he would've wanted her to be Sheriff in his absence."

"You said she and Hook were obviously attracted to each other from the start," David points out, and Snow sighs.

"Yes, they were. But attraction… What she and Graham have runs so much deeper than attraction. They're like us. True Love."

"Snow, you _can't_ be sure they're True Love," David says.

"Yes, I _can_," Snow shakes her head at her husband, "The day he died, he came to me asking about past lives, and if we might know each other from one and if he'd ever hurt me. He started remembering because he kissed her. And she told me that right before he died, she kissed him and he said two things. 'I remember' and 'Thank you.' So I _can_ be sure that they're True Love, because True Love's Kiss broke his curse."

…

Silence. That's what greets Emma and Graham when they walk into Granny's Diner. Quite a few of the townspeople are there, and they are all staring. Maybe taking a dead guy out on a date without preparing the rest of the town isn't the best idea, because Granny has dropped her pen and Red very nearly drops a tray full of food on the dwarves.

The two of them take an empty booth, and Red comes over as soon as she's delivered the food she'd nearly dropped.

"Good to see you, Sheriff," Red says, "Uh… I mean… Graham. Uh… I don't know your real name."

"Graham is fine," he says, reaching across the table for Emma's hand. Even though she is not usually one for PDA, she takes it. She feels silly, like she hasn't kept her hands off him for five minutes since they kissed in the forest, and truth be told she probably hasn't, but she allows herself some leeway because as far as she'd known until just this afternoon, he was dead.

"Um, you guys can have a room at the Bed and Breakfast, if… If you need," Red offers, "I mean the loft has to be kind of crowded, right? So, tell me when you pay and I'll get everything set up for you."

"No," Graham says quickly, shaking his head, not wanting to be with Emma in the same place he'd used to have to bow to Regina's whims, "That won't be necessary. We're just here for dinner."

"Grilled Cheeses?" Red asks, remembering when they'd come in together as friends and co-workers a few times before… Whatever it was that got Emma so upset with him. She thought Emma had said something about him "leaving the mayor," but she hoped for his sake she'd heard wrong.

"That sounds perfect to me," Emma smiles, and Graham nods along.

When Red leaves their table, Granny comes up with a sheet of paper.

"So, I don't really know why we kept this," the older woman says, "But Emma, it looks like your mother won the bet. Seems on the day we all thought he died, she came in that morning and put ten dollars on 'Emma's walls are so high, at the rate they're going it will be two and a half more years.'"

"You had a bet going on when Graham and I would get together?" Emma asks.

"Yeah. Gave everyone a refund after the announcement… Well, you know. But I suppose Snow should know she won as a point of pride type thing."

Graham chuckles at how red Emma's cheeks get.

"Snow didn't technically win," he says, giving Emma's hand a squeeze, "I did die, but if I hadn't, your bet would've been over then."

Granny shakes her head.

"That makes Sidney our winner and no one has seen him since he confessed to kidnapping Kathryn. So, Snow wins. We can tell her."

"I'm going to kill her for placing that bet," Emma mutters, "Friends don't _do_ that."

"No, you're not," Graham shakes his head, laughing, "If _I _couldn't kill her, you certainly won't be able to bring yourself to do it."

"She wasn't betting on your love life!"

Graham raises an eyebrow.

"When you were supposed to kill her," Emma clarifies, "She wasn't betting on your love life when you were supposed to kill her."

"No, when I was supposed to kill her I didn't _have _a love life. And I hated all human beings. You don't have that advantage."

…

Emma and Graham arrive back at the loft to find a note taped to the door.

"We let Regina and Neal fight over who would have Henry for the night; we are staying at Granny's. You two have the place to yourself. Snow," it reads, and Emma groans, remembering walking in on her parents and wondering if they were trying to prevent that happening again, only with Graham walking in on it too – or if they were trying to prevent the opposite, themselves walking in on her and Graham.

"Never would've expected James to be so open to his baby girl being alone with a man," Graham chuckles upon reading the note.

"Trust me, he is sitting in their room at Granny's pouting over this arrangement," Emma says, "This will all be Snow's doing."

"Am I sensing a story here that has something to do with what you said about 'two other guys to break up with'?"

"Just one of them," Emma says with a shrug, "I thought the other one was dead until I got off the boat from Neverland and he proposed. I took care of that problem while we were at the hospital, though, you're the only guy who has my attention. Promise."

She unlocks the door and he glances at the extra lock that August installed.

"That's new," he says.

"Pinocchio installed it before the curse broke," she explains, "Regina framed Mary Margaret… Snow… Well, I mean, she was cursed, so Mary Margaret – for murdering Kathryn Nolan. She has these keys that can get her in anywhere and Pinocchio put that in for some extra security."

She makes sure all the locks are closed behind them and then pulls Graham into another kiss.

…_Six Months Later_…

There is a chill in the autumn air as Graham carries Emma through the forest, blindfold tight over her eyes. He has been working on this surprise for her for months. He thinks it will be good for all of them. And since she told him last night that she was pregnant, since she is giving him a child, a family, he wants to give her this.

He reaches the deep clearing and sets his fiancée down. He had proposed two weeks ago, but he had been searching for the right ring from the morning after she had come back to him.

Ultimately, he had needed the help of the Blue Fairy and the dwarves to _create_ the right ring, but it had turned out perfectly. A simple gold band, a ruby in the shape of a heart, and a small diamond to either side. The engraving "With you, I feel again."

"Are you ready?" he whispers in her ear, one hand ready to remove the blindfold, the other resting on her still-flat stomach as his mind wanders to what their child might look like.

"I don't know what I'm ready for, but yeah, I'm ready," Emma laughs.

He takes the blindfold off and watches as her eyes widen in wonder, taking in the sight before her.

He has had a lot of help, building the cabin in front of them. Help from the dwarves, from the former giant, from Gepetto and Pinocchio, from her father, from Michael Tillman… Half the town, it seems, has pitched in, and they've all agreed to help again should additions ever need to be built. He will have to start making calls later. There isn't a nursery.

"It's beautiful," she smiles.

"It's not quite done," he says, giving her a squeeze, "but it's ours. There's a room for Henry, and all the modern conveniences… The woods are my world, Emma, and it was cramped in the loft so I thought… Maybe this could be home."

"It's perfect," Emma shakes her head, tears in her eyes, "I love it."

She kisses him quickly.

"And for the record, Graham, you're my home," she says, "Forever."


	2. Part Two - Three Times

_Three Times_

**A/N: Part Two to my Gremma fic "Forever" focusing on the Huntsman after his revival and before his reunion with Emma and the restoration of his Storybrooke memories. Called "Three Times" because of a line he says about his wolf brother in both parts – "Three times he has tried to lead me to you." So, this part starts out the exact same way as part one does, but then instead of a time jump to post-Neverland and perspective jump to Emma, continues following scenes of the Huntsman living in Storybrooke's forest. He actually sees Emma more than three times, but not all of them are because he's following his wolf brother; only those three count towards the title.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Once Upon a Time, Graham never would have died in the first place, and he and Emma would probably be married by now, and Neal and Bae would not be the same person, and did you see that time Tamara killed Pinocchio, who was made out of wood, with electricity? Yeah, that wouldn't have happened because it was stupid. Also Robin Hood's role would have been worthy of all that advertising before Lacey and I would have moved heaven and earth to have him played by Jonas Armstrong. But since none of the above statements are true, you can clearly see that I don't own it. Sadly.**

_May, 2012, The Forest, Storybrooke, Maine_

His return to consciousness is swift, but he does not wish to open his eyes. He has not dreamt in a very long time – since before, even, he was tasked with the murder he could not commit – but he prefers sleeping to waking. When he is awake, the Queen does unspeakable things to him.

But then a familiar wet nose is pressed into his hand, a tongue licking him lazily.

His brother?

Impossible. He has not seen his brother since… Since the Queen's men brought him to her.

He opens his eyes and finds he is in a forest he does not recognize.

A near impossibility in and of itself, since he knows all the forests of the kingdom like the back of his hand.

His heart is beating a mile a… His heart?

With the realization that he has his heart back, he bolts upright. Save his brother, he recognizes nothing around him.

His brother stands and waits for him to do the same. He is a little unsteady on his feet.

His brother leads him through the forest and shows him to a nearby town. The signs say "Storybrooke." He hides in the shadows, watching. The people are in a bit of a frenzy. He sees and recognizes Snow – whose hair is far too short, for some reason – and her prince. They both look very different.

With them is a blonde woman and a child and his heart thumps harder though he cannot even see her face, does not know who she might be.

His brother nudges him, as though encouraging him to go to them, but he cannot do that. He does not know why… He does not know why he _wants_ to go to her, be close to this woman he doesn't recognize, but he _does_ and that frightens him.

He returns to the forest.

…

Distressing, he believes, is the word for what he just witnessed. A man in a strange suit, who looks like Rumplestiltskin, but more human, summoning some sort of monster.

Whatever it is, it will most likely put that entire town in danger.

Something about that doesn't sit right with him. He tells himself it is the safety of innocents, children, he is worried about, and at most Snow White, because he has invested much in protecting her before.

He does not allow himself to think it is for the blonde woman he doesn't know who his brother showed him.

In truth, it is very much for her, but he cannot admit that. He just cannot. He doesn't know her. He doesn't know a thing about her. So she seems to be friends with Snow White, all that means to him is that she is not on the Queen's side (always a good sign though that may be).

He refuses to think about her. He hasn't even seen her _face_, for pity's sake. He should _not_ care a thing about her, and so he refuses to acknowledge the feeling in his gut that he _does._

…

He is hunting with his brother the next time he wanders a little too close to the town. He is near their stables, apparently, and Snow's prince and the child he saw after he woke in the forest are there, and they are talking about responsibility and taking care of a horse.

"We are going to get them back," the boy says eventually, and he briefly wonders who the "them" refers to.

"We are," James replies to the boy, "We are going to get your mom and Snow back. Hopefully soon. And you can bet that as long as they're safe, they're fighting to get back to us."

There is a clenching feeling in his chest that he doesn't understand when he hears that Snow White and another woman – probably the mysterious blonde, from the sound of it – are missing. Where can they possibly have gone?

He does not know. What he knows is that for some reason, the idea of the blonde being in trouble affects him much more than the idea of Snow being in trouble. Then again, he knows Snow can take care of herself, in no small part thanks to the fact that after he spared her life, she had to become an outlaw, and she lived that way for a good amount of time before he freed James from Regina's clutches. The blonde, he has no such assurances for, although he has a sneaking suspicion that he _does_ know she can take care of herself, and even if he _doesn't_, she's with Snow, isn't she?

His brother nudges him and he is drawn out of his thoughts to see the boy staring in his direction, eyes narrowed, like he thinks he might see something.

He retreats further into the forest, keeping out of sight.

…

When the full moon comes, he makes camp in the treetops. It was a precaution his wolf brethren had started forcing him into longer ago than he can remember. He wasn't _too_ small at that point, he was big enough to climb on his own. He doesn't know how they protected him before then, but he knows what they were protecting him from.

Werewolves.

He sees one that night, large and black and fierce. It looks straight at him and there is recognition there, he is certain, and perhaps some surprise there too, and he wonders about it, but in the morning it turns out to be Snow's friend Red, and James finds her there in the woods, unconscious, and she claims not to remember anything.

He is more careful after that, making sure that he is not seen again. He cannot risk it, cannot risk her seeing him again and remembering when she wakes, because he has no desire to go back into the human world and he is sure if he is discovered, he will have to go back.

He is afraid that if he goes back, the Queen will somehow gain control of him again.

…

He sees the Queen for the first time since waking up when his brother leads him to an old well in the forest.

He stands where he can see but not be seen and watches as she and the man who he saw summoning the monster that first day cast some sort of spell.

Some sort of spell to stop people from coming through to this world from elsewhere. They say it will kill whoever comes through. He knows instinctively that it is Snow and the blonde woman who are supposed to come through, and is about to risk exposure to try and stop them, telling himself it is because he cannot allow the Queen to kill Snow, no matter the cost, but feeling without understanding why that it is for the blonde instead, when the boy he has seen before, the boy who almost saw him, comes and pleads with the Queen not to do this. He has never seen a side of the Queen like she shows with the boy, and she absorbs the spell, and soon Snow and the blonde come climbing out of the well.

The blonde looks in his general direction, as though she can feel his eyes on her, and he finally sees her face. She is beautiful, he thinks, but there is a sadness in her and he can't explain why but it breaks his heart a little that she doesn't actually see him.

His brother nudges him, and he understands what the wolf is saying, _go to her_, but he can't bring himself to do that. He can't retreat, this time, but he can't go to her either, his legs feel frozen in place. And then they are all gone, running towards the town, and his chance is gone with them.

…

That night, he dreams. He dreams of _her_, and he doesn't understand it.

He sees her smiling and laughing and it warms his heart.

That sadness that was in her in the forest is mostly gone in his dream, not entirely, but enough that he can tell she is more happy than sad.

She is in his arms, in the dream, and it feels _right_.

It feels more than right, actually, especially when he takes her on the forest floor and she is glowing with pleasure in the low light that filters through the treetops.

He is worried about the fact that it feels so right, worried that he's dreaming about a woman he doesn't know, worried about the fact that he's dreaming at all.

Though he does not realize it, when he wakes, he now thinks of her as _his_.

…

He is near the road by the painted line that no one crosses when there is a loud commotion. He watches as the Queen's prisoner and the man she sent to kill her mother and another man are loaded into strange vehicles that say "Ambulance" on the side.

His blonde is there and she exudes authority, calming the man who looks like Rumplestiltskin and giving orders that even James follows. He feels proud of her, though he doesn't entirely know why.

As they are leaving he half-steps out of the forest and though his blonde and the prince don't see him, Rumplestiltskin – he is sure that's who it is, now – does.

The man does not say anything, does not call out to the others, just gives him a slight nod.

If anything, that worries him more than comforts him. Rumplestiltskin worked with the Queen, he _knows_ that. He's seen it before and he saw it at the well.

And it is entirely possible that the man will reveal his location to her, if she offers the right price.

…

He does not want to believe his eyes when he sees the Queen and a woman who looks like the one that the pirate supposedly killed digging in the forest. They are looking for something, a dagger from the sound of things, and he knows it _cannot_ be good.

He is thinking about going into town, maybe finding his blonde, or at the very least Snow, and telling them what he saw, even though at the same time he doesn't want to go into town, when he sees Snow herself sneaking towards the women to see what they're doing herself.

That, he thinks, is good. Snow will figure out what to do.

He heads deeper into the forest, wanting nothing more than to avoid the Queen.

…

When his blonde and a man he's never seen before appear in the forest, he scrambles into the underbrush.

Something akin to jealousy sparks in him, seeing her with another man.

She does not seem _close_ to him, this other man, whoever he is, but whatever is going on _he does not like it_.

She is _his_. He feels silly being so possessive over a woman he does not know, but he feels it anyway.

They walk away, towards the town, and though he contemplates showing himself, momentarily, something stops him.

Something stops him.

…

The boy he has seen, his blonde's son, the one who somehow managed to convince the Queen to save Snow, is running through the woods with such fierce determination that he barely manages to hide in time.

He follows at a distance, worried for the child's safety.

There is another man, a strange man, also in the forest, and the boy runs into him. He knows that if the man should prove harmful to the boy, he will step in.

The boy seems nervous. He tells an obvious lie to the man about why he's in the woods, who replies in kind.

The man unsettles him. But he is more concerned about the boy, so that is who he follows.

The boy goes to the well, the well that Snow and his blonde came through, and pulls strange red sticks out of the bag at his side.

He bites his lip, worried about the boy. Whatever those things are, they scream danger for some reason he can't identify.

Soon the Queen arrives, and he is glad to be hidden in the trees.

She is soft with the boy, trying to stop him from whatever it is he wants to do, and he wonders what happened to her. This is not the Queen who forced him to her bed. He still hates her all the same, but he recognizes that she has changed. Certainly not entirely, but the Queen he knew before would have sooner locked the boy in a dungeon than tried to reason with him.

"Hey, Regina! Get away from my son!" comes out from nearby and he looks to see his blonde, James, and the man his blonde was with before, the day she appeared in the forest as though by magic.

He can sense that whatever is going on, the boy is somehow torn between the Queen and the others. The boy is yelling about destroying magic, and he doesn't think it's a bad idea, but he also doesn't think it's possible.

The Queen destroys something, a little piece of paper, and the boy goes with his blonde and James and the man.

…

There is a part of the forest that he has been avoiding. A small structure on wheels is there and he gets an eerie feeling around it that makes his skin crawl.

He is somewhat near it, though, one day, when he notices Snow in the forest taking target practice. She's good with the bow, he'll admit that, not as good as him of course, but good.

One of her arrows bounces off and keeps flying.

And then he hears it. Footsteps. Someone is running away.

Snow notices too, and she follows, and he follows behind her. Whoever it is could be dangerous. He has always protected her, he can't stop now.

The trail they are apparently following leads to the wheeled structure, and Snow enters. He hangs back, deciding he will only make his presence known if he absolutely has to.

Snow stays inside for a while. He begins to worry for her, growing impatient, but eventually she comes out, shaken but unharmed.

His curiosity is piqued. So he decides to watch the strange structure for a while.

Eventually, a dark skinned woman comes. He has never seen her before, but she reminds him of one of the wolves he grew up with. His sister was fearsome and near rabid when attacking, but, like this woman, cold and calculating while lying in wait.

She knocks on the door that Snow went into, and it opens to reveal a man apparently made of wood.

They both go inside for a while, talking, and then they both leave and he doesn't like it.

But whoever the wooden man is, he is clearly the explanation for Snow's state when she left and he leaves, satisfied.

And then he sees Snow and his blonde and an old man trekking through the woods and _they_ go to the structure and he is shocked because Snow slaps the old man.

His blonde does not enter with the others and he wishes he could reveal himself to her but something inside tells him that it is not a good time.

…

The ground is shaking and the forest is shifting around him. His brother nudges him and leads him towards the town.

They come out of the woods near what looks like some old mines, and his blonde and the child are leaving and he wants to call out to her, because he knows they are going to die.

He wants to meet her, for real, before that, but she is running, too fast, and a vine from the shifting forest wraps around his leg and he is pulled back, away from her.

After struggling for what feels like a long time, the shaking stops, the forest returns to how it was, and he frees himself from its clutches.

Somehow, their deaths have been averted.

…

For the next year he does not even see his blonde, no matter how many times he ventures close to town or the well.

His brother takes to visiting the cemetery daily and after a week he stops following.

That place unsettles him. Burial grounds always have. People place the dead there to honor them, supposedly, but then it seems to him that they promptly forget about that.

A few times, the Queen's prisoner treks into the forest, looking for something – or, he thinks, possibly for him, since the entire reason she was a prisoner was that Rumplestiltskin cared for her and the Dark One did _see_ him.

But he avoids her.

One day his brother takes longer than usual at the cemetery and he waits at the bridge in the woods for the wolf to return.

Eventually his brother does return, tail wagging, smile on his face, and he bends down to scratch him behind the ears.

"Where have you been, brother?" he asks. The wolf continues to smile, as though he's very proud of himself.

Then a branch cracks at the edge of the clearing and his head shoots up and there is his blonde. She is staring at him, wide-eyed, like she has seen a ghost, and she is wearing a dark leather jacket that seems familiar but he has never seen on her.

"Brother, did you lead her here?" he asks, looking back to the wolf.

"He did," she answers. He is curious. His brother has never tried to get him to interact with other humans until her.

"He has tried leading me to you before," he admits, "You are friends with Snow White and her prince?"

"Well… I mean… They're my parents," she tells him. He wonders how it is possible. Could it have something to do with the Queen's curse? The one he hasn't thought of since waking, but is always in the back of his mind?

He walks towards her.

He looks her over and can certainly see features from Snow. Her chin, her green eyes, they are so like Snow that for a moment he wonders if he's seeing things that aren't there.

He wonders if it's wrong of him to have dreamt what he has of Snow's daughter, and decides that it is probably very wrong indeed, but he strangely cannot bring himself to care.

"Yes, I see the resemblance," he acknowledges, "You have your mother's chin. And her eyes."

"You saved her life, right?" his blonde asks, "I was told… You gave up your heart for hers."

He almost doesn't believe that she knows who he is, just on sight.

"I did," he nods, still confused how she knows, "Somehow it is back now."

"Why do you stay out here in the woods?" she blurts out, "You would be more than welcome in town. Well, everyone but Regina would welcome you in town and her opinion doesn't really matter all that much anymore…"

"This is my world," he tells her, and is hit with déjà vu, like he has said it to her before even though they have never spoken before this moment, "What is that place? It is like no town I have ever seen before."

"Regina cast a curse," she tells him, "Everyone from the Enchanted Forest was brought here, without their memories, and frozen in time for 28 years. I broke her curse a while back. Almost two years, now."

"That's when I woke up here in the forest with my heart back," he says, stepping closer. He is inside her personal space now, he knows, but he is a hunter and in a way, she is his prey, for she is what he wants, and even though he won't do anything she doesn't want, he will get as close as he can.

"I remember her talking about a curse," he continues, "But nothing between her casting it and waking up in the forest with my heart back. Why?"

"I don't know much about how magic works," she says, and he can tell she is hiding something from him, something she knows and he doesn't.

"And why does my brother keep trying to lead us together?" he asks, trying a different tactic.

"I don't know," she says, still hiding _something_, "I've seen your brother before. He made me stay in town when I first came here. And then I saw him again today and it seemed like he wanted me to follow him and he lead me to you."

"Three times he has tried to lead me to you," he says, trying to puzzle out his brother's motives, "and today he leads you to me?"

"Do you have a name?" she asks him suddenly. Of course she would want to know _that_, the one thing he cannot tell her about himself.

"No," he says, "Those of us raised by wolves tend not to have names. But you must have one, Princess."

"Emma," she says, and something about it feels _familiar_. Like he already knew that.

"Emma," he repeats, and he likes being able to think of _his blonde_ as _his Emma_.

And then she kisses him firmly, without warning, surprising him, but instead of stopping her, something inside him tells him to pull her closer, and he obliges, one arm around her waist, one hand tangling in her hair. Her arms wrap around his shoulders and then suddenly he is hit with 28 years of very repetitive memories and that last memory of pain, such intense pain as he died becoming even worse as he realized he had _just found her_ only to be cruelly ripped away.

He breaks the kiss and stares at his beloved, his princess, his _Emma_, and she squeaks out his name, _Graham_, and her voice is so full of hope and in that moment he regrets not going to her sooner because _damn_, if he'd known that going into town would mean having his True Love back he wouldn't have been so hesitant.

"I remember," he tells her, just like that last night only _so_ much better, and only then does he realize that he should not even be alive, "How is this possible? I was dead."

"I really have _no_ idea," Emma tells him, her smile so bright, "But I'm glad it is."

"I am too," he agrees, taking her hand, one of those simple gestures that he wishes he could've been able to do all this time.

"Let's go home," Emma suggests, her voice almost a sigh as she rests her head on his shoulder and they start walking back into town.

"Home? Emma, you are my home," he says, and loves it when her bright smile widens even further.

"That may be," she says, "but I have two other guys to break up with, and Henry has missed you, and I haven't had a decent meal in months because I've been in Neverland. Granny's is calling my name."

They emerge from the woods near the hospital, and the crowd is large and the only person he doesn't know, at least vaguely, is the man who he saw in the woods with Emma a few times.

"Sheriff!" Henry calls, then runs over and hugs him. He is touched that the boy has missed him so much.

Emma drops his hand and he hugs Henry back.

"Hey, buddy," he smiles, "Good to see you."

Emma goes over to the man he's seen a few times and the pirate the Queen asked to kill her mother and is speaking to them and he wonders if they're the "two other guys to break up with" she mentioned. It is most likely the case, but she hadn't seemed too close to the man before.

"Have you been in the forest all this time?" Snow asks.

"I have been there for about two years, now," he tells her, "I… I would've come back, for her, but I didn't remember Storybrooke."

"But you do now," Charming says, his glare cutting through him like a knife. Or a sword. Something very sharp and most likely deadly.

"Yes," he says, carefully, "I'm very lucky. Your daughter has restored my memories twice now."

"I hope," Snow says, obviously trying to be the diplomat between them, "That you're okay with not getting your old job back. Emma's the Sheriff now. I'm sure she'll let you be a deputy with David, though."

"Emma's the Sheriff?" he asks, both proud of her and stunned that Regina let it happen.

"Yeah," Henry says, "She won the election against Sidney."

"A lot has happened since you died," Snow says, "We're going to have to tell you everything sometime. But for now… If you ever break my daughter's heart again…" She doesn't finish the threat, but he nods in understanding, even if he didn't exactly break Emma's heart due to anything he could control.

Emma glances back towards him and smiles, he sees, and then she comes back and takes his hand again. He can feel himself relax, even though he hadn't noticed he was tense. He supposes it was those old instincts showing through, making him uneasy around people – but calming him instantly with his mate by his side.

Yes, things are going to be different now, and adjustments will need to be made to all their lives – but as long as he has Emma, he knows things will be alright.


	3. Part 3: Just a Different Kind of Monster

_Just a Different Kind of Monster_

**A/N: Part Three of "Forever." Killian-centric. Gremma is my OTP, but I have a soft spot for Captain Swan too and I feel like I didn't do Killian justice in part one because I was so focused on reuniting Graham and Emma. Red Hook pairing, because there's no way I'm breaking up my Gremma (they just got together, are you nuts?), but I still want Killian happy (I do like Frankenwolf, but I like Killian more than Victor so I don't mind breaking him and Red up for story purposes). Some of the first scene with Red and Killian talking feels really forced to me, and I apologize, but I couldn't think of a way around the conversation so just please accept it rather than calling me out.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Once Upon a Time, Graham never would have died in the first place, and he and Emma would probably be married by now, and Neal and Bae would not be the same person, and did you see that time Tamara killed Pinocchio, who was made out of wood, with electricity? Yeah, that wouldn't have happened because it was stupid. Also Robin Hood's role would have been worthy of all that advertising before Lacey and I would have moved heaven and earth to have him played by Jonas Armstrong. But since none of the above statements are true, you can clearly see that I don't own it. Sadly.**

He is the last person off the Jolly Roger, but that doesn't stop him from seeing Baelfire embrace _his_ Swan and propose.

He is angry, but not at Baelfire. He can't blame the boy – well, man, now – for loving Swan. He is angry because he is sure this is the end of his chance with her. She has the father of her child back, after all, and he had seen her those first few weeks in Neverland, worried for her son and mourning the man who fathered him.

But instead of answering Baelfire she runs, runs away, and Red follows her. The pretty werewolf (many, many stories were shared in Neverland) comes back a few minutes later, Swan nowhere in sight.

"She locked herself inside the station," he overhears Red inform Snow, "I think she was hyperventilating."

Snow nods absently and he wonders at the faraway look in the princess's eyes.

He follows everyone else, not really listening when the doctor insists they all get checkups since they've been in another realm; he is too busy worrying about his Swan.

They are just reaching the hospital when she steps out of the woods wrapped up in a man he's never seen. He's tall, with curly brown hair and blue eyes, and he's dressed in leathers and furs, looking more suited for their home world than this one, and her hand is in his and her head is on his shoulder and she looks happier than he has ever seen her and that burns him. He notices that Snow also looks very happy to see this man that her daughter is with and he can't help but wonder who he is.

"Sheriff!" Henry calls, and runs to hug the man, and Killian cannot say he isn't a tiny bit jealous that the boy clearly cares about this man his mother has apparently found in the woods and chosen. He sees the jealousy spark in Baelfire's eyes as well, though he is unsure if it is over the woman or the child.

Swan hesitates to leave the side of the man she is with, he sees it in her posture, she crosses her arms defensively, making her seem smaller, and she won't look either himself or Baelfire in the eye as she comes towards them.

"Em, what's going on?" Baelfire asks, though he seems much calmer than Killian would've given him credit for, given what appears to be happening.

"I love him," she says, the remark cutting into his soul and pouring salt into the wound all at once, "I could never admit it, but I have loved him from the moment I met him. I thought he was dead – he has a grave out in the cemetery and everything. You…" she pauses a moment, and he knows whatever she is saying is meant for both of them, "You asked me for forever, and I panicked and I went to his grave. And there was a wolf there, a wolf that I hadn't seen since the day I thought he died, and it lead me to him. And I have a second chance with him, a miracle second chance with him, and I just can't give that up. When I kissed him, before, he remembered his life from before the curse…"

"True Love's Kiss," he interrupts her story, his tone colder than he intends, because he understands how hard it can be to lose your True Love. If Milah was to come back to him, he would be so happy that he wouldn't even question it.

"Okay," Baelfire says, and in that moment he has never seen less Milah in the boy. He is a coward, like the Crocodile, and this thought is cemented in Killian's mind when Bae continues, "Em, all I want is to know you're happy, and if he's your happiness… You shouldn't feel bad about being with him instead of me. I kind of screwed you over, I don't deserve you. I mean, I held out hope, all this time, and then when you said you loved me and I wasn't dead I thought, you know, if I ever got back to you I might have a shot, but, obviously, I was wrong."

He does want Swan to be happy, he'll admit on that point he agrees with Baelfire's little speech – but Baelfire isn't even _trying_ to fight for her. He's just giving up.

Killian doesn't say anything to Swan before she goes back to the other man's side, his mind racing, trying to figure out _what _to say, _how_ to fight for her, if he even _should_ – he's _more_ than _willing_ to fight for her, even though he's _certain_ it will be a losing battle, given the fact that the other man is her _True Love_. What he doesn't know is if Swan will feel flattered he's fighting for her? Hurt that he isn't respecting her choice?

And it is the possibility of Swan hating him for fighting that ultimately paralyzes him from action while they are at the hospital. Instead, he watches, silently simmering, trying to think everything through _before_ he starts his fight. He cannot pretend it doesn't hurt when the other man kisses Swan. Just this morning, that would have been _him_.

He heads back to his ship, alone. He believes he thinks better with rum in his system.

Before he can even pour the first glass he is hit with the memory. Swan, on his bed in nothing but a loose shirt, smiling for the first time since they arrived in Neverland. She had looked heavenly that night. It had been the rum that made her lower her guard, he knew, but only the first time. After that, she had spent every night in his cabin.

He throws the glass he was about to fill against the door and it shatters, the memory of _his_ Swan shattering along with it.

He takes the bottle and another glass, and heads up to the deck. He cannot be in the room where he was with Swan right now, while she is with another man somewhere across town, another man she never even told him she lost.

Unless she did, that day on the beanstalk, and he'd been wrong when he'd assumed the father of her child was the one person that "Maybe" she had been in love with "once."

He doesn't know anymore.

After he has drained the bottle of rum, he goes for a walk. He avoids the street where he knows that Swan and her family live. He hasn't wanted a woman the way he wants her since Milah, and he refuses to torture himself by going where she's most likely to be.

He heads to the diner. He needs more rum.

"Victor, I thought we were through with this!" the werewolf is yelling at the doctor, who is drinking, apparently heavily.

"I did the autopsy," the man mutters, "He was dead! Dead, dead, dead. Now he's not. 'S not possible.

"Says the man who had his arm ripped off and then reattached by Rumplestiltskin! Look, I don't know how he's back, but he is. You can't drink yourself sick over it. It's just magic!"

He sits at the counter, blocking out the rest of the argument.

"What can I get you?" the werewolf growls, coming over to him.

"Rum," he says, "A large bottle."

"You, too? Honestly, all you men are overreacting. Graham being alive is nothing to drink yourself into an early grave over. Of course, I understand where Neal is coming from, and even Victor – sort of – but why do you care?"

"Swan and I… Bonded. In Neverland," he says.

"Oh, God," the werewolf groans, "I did not need to know that."

"You did ask, love," he points out.

"I didn't actually think that was why you were drinking!"

He chuckles, at this. He likes her spirit. She's feisty.

"Seems like you needed a drink because of the doctor's drinking," he says, changing the subject, "Would you like some of the rum I ordered?"

"No," she says, shooting him a tiny glare, "No drink for me. I'm working. Also, the doctor – he's very much my boyfriend."

"Sounded like you're going through a rough patch," Killian says drily.

"Well. I thought he had quit drinking. This heavily. Back when we started dating. But then a dead man shows up out of the blue and somehow Victor Frankenstein can't handle that," she says with a cold laugh.

"But you can?"

"You know what's ridiculous?" the werewolf asks instead of answering, sitting and pouring herself the glass of rum she had just said she wouldn't take, "The guy who Emma's with, Graham? Back home he was this Huntsman – and I don't know what his real name is or if he even had one – but me and Snow had a couple adventures with him and Snow was _adamant_ that he was my True Love. And, you know, I liked him well enough, he was handsome and brave and… I guess a part of me is jealous of Emma. Honestly though, I see him more as a friend than anything else, and maybe part of that is the curse, but at the same time, from the moment Emma came to town, everyone could just… Tell. Her very presence changed him. 'Cause he was always nice, but he was also… Distant. Cut himself off from everyone. And then she came along and even though he was still cursed… It was almost like he revolved around her. One look of disapproval had him in here drinking like there was no tomorrow. I never saw him happier than when the two of them were flirting, although at the time there's no way Emma would've admitted they were flirting, or more upset than when she was angry with him for whatever reason…"

"And you choose to confide all this in me?" he asks, a little confused.

"I ate my first boyfriend," she says suddenly, again not answering his actual question. He gets the feeling she's had more to drink herself than she'll admit to.

"You… Um… What?" is the only response he can get out.

"I ate my first boyfriend," she repeats, "And then Graham was never really my boyfriend, Snow just thought we had potential, but he chose Emma although I realize that he's just following his heart – oh, God, if you knew how ironic that is – which never ever belonged to me. And then Pinocchio was almost my boyfriend but he's a little kid now. And I've got Victor but sometimes he's so obsessed with his failure to save his brother. It's a little creepy actually. Sometimes I wonder if I'm… Broken. If the reason I have such horrible luck with men is that I'm cursed or something."

Yes, Killian thinks, she is most definitely sneaking more drinks than she'll let on. Aside from the confessions, though, she's acting rather sober, which impresses him.

"Perhaps I'm broken too," he muses, deciding to try and comfort her, "My first… _Love_ – the first woman where I let my emotions into the picture – was Baelfire's mother. The only other one has been Swan, and she's the mother of Baelfire's child. Every other lass has been meaningless. There's something wrong, there."

He doesn't know why he says it. Comforting is not his nature. Opening up is not his nature.

"You're a pirate," she shrugs, "Why should you have to get emotional?"

"Because I'm human," he says.

"Well, I'm a werewolf. Guess that negates your comparison between us."

"But it doesn't," he says, shaking his head, "You're still human, most of the time. You should still be allowed to think and feel like anyone else."

She turns and looks at him, and there is a mixture of emotions he can't even comprehend totally on her face.

"You get it," she says, an almost reverent whisper.

"A pirate's just a different kind of monster, love," he shrugs.

And then, despite the fact that her doctor is only a few feet away, her lips are crashing into his hungrily. He is surprised, but he doesn't mind. Just as he starts to contemplate where this might be heading, she pulls away, her lips swollen and her eyes flashing gold.

She pulls him to his feet and out the door, his rum and her shift forgotten as she drags him to the inn her grandmother keeps.

…

After, as he lays there, tangled in her, he wonders what this was. She has her doctor, after all, even though this felt like something that could not simply be a one-time thing.

It made Swan feel like a distant memory and he's certain he will never be sated in his new need for the wolf.

"What are we?" she asks from where her head rests on his chest.

So. She is voicing his thoughts, now?

"I am a pirate, and you are a werewolf," he says, skirting the question.

"No, I meant…" she sighs, and he puts a finger to her lips to quiet her.

"I know what you meant, love," he says, "But if neither of us knows the answer, why should we label it?"

"Because… That's what people do. They label things. Like relationships."

"I think," he says, "We are ourselves. The pirate, and the werewolf. But we are ourselves… Together."

"You make it sound so simple. Like, we don't need a label, we just… Are."

"Perhaps that's how it is, Red."

…

When they leave the room in the morning, Snow and her Charming are standing in the hallway and they look very shocked to see him with Red.

The prince glares at him, probably disapproving how fast he's moved on from Swan – and he knows that he has moved on, even though it has been fast; he can think about her without bitterness over the fact that she chose her – what had Red called him? Huntsman?

"I'll get you guys checked out," Red offers, dragging Charming by the arm down the stairs. Snow stares at him for a moment.

"If you hurt her," Snow says, "If you're just using her to move on from Emma – I will kill you. She's my best friend."

"Understood, your majesty," he nods.

Snow turns and follows down the stairs.

…

Red drags him to the diner with her, since she has to work the breakfast shift. He's not sure what's going to happen later – but today, they are spending together.

Swan and her Huntsman are there, and she seems to choke on her eggs a little when she sees Red drag him in.

Probably offended by the speed with which he's moved on, he thinks, and promises himself he will talk to her and they will hopefully be friends.

Huh. He's never wanted to be friends with a woman after he's moved on from her before. Maybe this town is changing him.

"Ruby, I thought you and Whale had a… Thing?" Swan asks, and he hears in her voice that maybe it is that which made her choke rather than him.

"We… Did," Red answers, "But then half the men in town were drinking their lives away because your boyfriend there isn't dead and… Victor was one of them and his obsession with his failure to bring his brother back from the dead just… It broke us."

"Oh," Swan says, nodding in acceptance. He wonders. Is it that acceptable, in this world, to move on from one's partner so fast? He had accepted her leaving him for the other man because nothing could argue with True Love's Kiss – and because he miraculously had Red, of course – but somehow he hadn't expected her to accept him moving on.

"Victor? Dr. Whale's name is Victor?" Swan's Huntsman asks.

"Yeah," Swan turns her attention to her partner, "Victor Frankenstein."

"Victor Frankenstein is… Gods, I did not need to know that," he groans, shaking his head, "I've got memories of having read that book."

Swan laughs and leans over the table, giving her Huntsman a kiss. It's not just a quick peck; it's languid and lingering and full of entirely obvious emotion. Killian can't quite believe that he's seeing it without any of the jealous feelings that were there before he connected with Red. But he likes that he's not jealous.

Somehow, it feels right.

Swan has her Huntsman, and he has his wolf.

…

"You know he's the one who shot me, right?" Belle asks later that day, having come in around noon for her lunch, while Red's shift was on its last legs, and noticed their flirting.

"Yes, I know, I was there for the aftermath," Red rolls her eyes, "And honey, I love you like a sister, but that's not going to stop me from seeing him."

"_He shot me_," Belle hisses, "I lost my memories because of him."

"And I apologize," he says, trying to be sincere, since she's Red's friend, "I was in a very dark place at the time."

She casts him a scathing look. According to most, she is the most forgiving person in town. Apparently, he has screwed up enough that even she doesn't believe he has any real good in him.

Wonderful. Having the wrath of Rumplestiltskin – the two of them will never forgive each other for everything that's happened over the years; that would be utterly ridiculous! – and his son – because even though Baelfire doesn't know about his brief affair with Swan, a fact he is entirely grateful for, Bae _does _still blame him for what happened with Milah, he knows that much – _and _his beloved seems such a _fun_ predicament.

"Belle, listen to me," Red says, "I _know_ he's a major asshole – sorry, Killian, but you know it's true – I would have to be totally ignorant not to. But… In a really weird way… He understands me. How the whole wolf thing makes me feel. Do you get that?"

The other woman's eyes soften towards her friend.

"I thought you said Victor understood that, though?"

"I thought he did, but… He was _way_ more concerned with his _obsession_ with getting his brother back than he ever was with me."

"_He's_ obsessed with his revenge on Rumple," Belle points out, gesturing to him.

"No," he shakes his head, "I'm not anymore. The air will never be entirely clear between the Crocodile and I – there has been far too much bad blood for us to ever stop hating each other – but I know now, revenge would never truly solve anything. I was clinging to it… Because it was all I had. If I had ever succeeded? I would've had nothing. But it's not all I have anymore."

Red gently squeezes his good hand, and it's reassuring. She will stand by him.

But he doesn't want her to lose her friend over him.

His words seem to have struck a chord with Belle though, because she looks thoughtful. Slightly less angry than when she realized what was happening.

"Okay, look," she sighs after a minute, "I _can't_ forgive him for what he's done to me. _However_, I can tolerate him – and try to convince Rumple to not murder him – for your sake. And because he helped save Henry. But don't ask me for anything more than tolerance, okay? I'm never going to be friends with him."

"I totally understand!" Red smiles, and gives her friend a hug.

"Thank you," he says. This whole thing feels like a fresh start. A real fresh start. That's more than he ever could have asked for.

…

"So," he says, finding Swan's Huntsman alone in a corner at the welcome home party for Henry and his rescuers, while Swan is being forced to tell her seven godfathers about various Neverland adventures, "You're Swan's True Love."

"And she is mine," the man nods.

"I'm… I'm not good at behaving myself," he says, "So please don't kill me if I make any innuendos in her presence."

"You're a pirate," the man shrugs, "Why would I expect you to be any good at behaving yourself? She told me about Neverland, but since everyone thought I was dead, I can't blame either of you. I trust her. And… You seem to make Red happy, and she's a friend. So right now, I can't see any issues coming up between us."

"You're much more tolerant than your girl's father," he observes, remembering when Charming threatened to cut off his other hand for making a suggestive remark in Snow's presence shortly after he was hit by that _wretched _car. If there's _one_ thing he will always hate about the land without magic, it's those horrid things.

"I'm no prince and I'm certainly no saint," the Huntsman shakes his head, "I was hired to _kill_ Emma's mother and for a while I actually thought I could go through with it, just because she was human. I'm in no position to judge you."

"Just because she was human?"

"It's a long story. And it caused me a lot of suffering, but at the end of the day, I wouldn't change a thing."

"Why not?"

"Because I wouldn't have Emma if I did. She makes everything in my life more than worth it," the Huntsman's eyes drift to Swan as he speaks and Killian sees the tenderness there, the utter devotion. He wonders if he ever looked at Milah like that. He wonders if he'll ever look at Red like that.

"You took good care of her, in Neverland," the Huntsman says, snapping him out of his thoughts, "I'm not saying I'm not jealous that you had her, but I think she needed you. She always needed someone to love her, I knew that very early on once I met her. So since I couldn't be there, I'm glad she had someone. And if you take care of Red the way you took care of Emma, I think we might even be able to be friends."

…_six months later…_

Red stands at the bow of the ship, her long, dark hair blowing in the sea breeze, her beautiful red dress clinging to her breasts and hips and legs seductively; she is a goddess if he has ever seen one.

He wishes he could take her sailing, around this whole world, give her some adventure – he knows she craves it, he knows her that well already, and it doesn't call to her the same way it called to Milah but it still calls to her and he wants to give it to her – but if she leaves Storybrooke, she'll forget, and he doesn't know where the border is on the sea-side of the town so he plays it safe, and when his wolf is aboard he stays at the docks.

Swan and her Huntsman are belowdecks. The four of them had been on an interesting outing, something Red called a "double date," having a splendid time at The Rabbit Hole, celebrating the fact that Swan and her Huntsman were to be married, when Baelfire and Mulan and Belle and the bloody Crocodile had come in on a similar outing. Things had gone downhill quickly with the town's four most awkwardly connected couples all in the same place.

Their group had retreated first, heading to the Jolly when he suggested his stash of rum.

He suspects Swan has taken her Huntsman to the first mate's cabin, which has lain empty for a good long while but has one of the better beds. He had thought about taking Red to the captain's cabin. But when he last stayed there – at all, he hasn't spent the night on his ship since the arrival back in this world – he was with Swan, and he doesn't want to taint what he has with Red by that.

Actually, he realizes after a second, despite the nature of their outing, neither Swan nor Red had partaken in the alcohol… And would Swan really be so rude as to disappear into the bowels of the ship just to make love to her Huntsman?

He goes up behind Red and wraps an arm around her middle.

"What was the purpose of tonight, love?" he asks, suspicious.

"Emma and I… Wanted to talk to you guys. And since Emma and Graham are engaged now, going out to celebrate seemed like a good enough excuse as any."

"But neither of you was celebrating," he points out.

"I was a little nervous you'd notice that."

"Red, love, are you…" he starts to ask, turning her around and looking her in the eye.

"I am," she nods, "And I'm so scared because I know you won't leave me, but I _don't_ know… Our child could be a wolf, like me. That's a fate I wouldn't wish on anyone and I may be forcing it on my own child…"

"We'll figure it out together, love," he promises, wiping an errant tear away from her face.


	4. Mini Part - You Chose Me

_You Chose Me_

**A/N: Mini-part for "Forever" because **_**Graham's shoelace**_** *cries for days* Takes place the morning after everybody gets home from Neverland.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Once Upon a Time, Graham never would have died in the first place, and he and Emma would probably be married by now, and Neal and Bae would not be the same person, and did you see that time Tamara killed Pinocchio, who was made out of wood, with electricity? Yeah, that wouldn't have happened because it was stupid. Also Robin Hood's role would have been worthy of all that advertising before Lacey and I would have moved heaven and earth to have him played by Jonas Armstrong. But since none of the above statements are true, you can clearly see that I don't own it. Sadly.**

His hand catches her wrist as she goes to leave the bed in the morning. It's time to get up; Snow and David will be back soon, probably, and Henry…

"Graham, it's morning," she says, rolling her eyes, but she has a smile on her face because she loves him so damn much. Actually, it's a little scary how much she loves him, she's never loved this much before… But she loves him and she has him and that makes her _happy_ beyond words.

His thumb brushes the shoelace that she has tied on her wrist.

"What is this, Em?" he asks, his voice gentle, and she suspects he knows exactly what it is.

It was _his_, after all.

"Your shoelace," she admits, sitting back on the bed next to him.

"Why on Earth do you have that?"

"Because… You chose me," she shrugs.

He sits up, obviously curious.

"Graham… Before Henry and Storybrooke and _you_? My life sucked. I thought my parents had tossed me out on the side of the freeway, for God's sake – Neal – he was the first person I ever trusted and he got me sent to jail and I just – no one ever loved me enough to choose me before you."

"Henry chose you."

"Henry chose me without even knowing me – because I was supposed to be the damn savior. But you, you knew me, not nearly well enough 'cause we didn't have enough time, I admit, but you _knew_ me and you knew I was a runner and you knew I was trouble and you still… You chose me."

"So you wear my shoelace?"

"Because I needed a reminder, Graham, a reminder that someone could love me – a reminder that you loved me."

He wraps his arms around her waist and pulls her to him tightly.

"Part of the reason I stayed in the woods all that time was fear," he says, "Because I had no idea who you were… But when I would see you, I wanted to be near you more than anything. I never wanted to be near anyone, before you. So, my princess, you never have to worry about feeling that way again – because I will never leave your side."

Her smile comes back quickly and she kisses him, and she can feel him smiling into the kiss too, but then he pulls back, a smirk on his face.

"What?" she asks.

He gets out of the bed and heads over to the closet, confusing her, but then he picks up her favorite pair of boots and starts pulling a lace out.

"I need that shoelace," she laughs at him.

"I'll get you a new one," he says, wrapping it around his own wrist and tying it there nimbly.

"Is there a reason you decided we had to match?"

He comes back and gives her another soft kiss.

"No one ever chose me before you, either."


	5. Part Four - Learning and Loving

_Learning and Loving_

**A/N: Mulan-centric, WarriorFire pairing. I wasn't originally going to give Neal anything beyond the whole breakup speech Emma gives him and Hook (and Ruby mentioning that he decides to get totally drunk afterwards), but… Then I started shipping him and Mulan. So. Here goes. I'm a little cruel to Neal, in parts, but he needs to man up to be worthy of Mulan and she needs to know that as is he's not really a gem. Special thanks to Grahams Shoelace for helping me through the shoelace feel storm, participating in crazy discussions about the Charming-stiltskin family and their holidays, and reading over my stuff when I don't know if it's any good and boosting my ego. WARNING: THE FEELS MAY BE INTENSE IN SOME PLACES.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Once Upon a Time, Graham never would have died in the first place, and he and Emma would probably be married by now, and Neal and Bae would not be the same person, and did you see that time Tamara killed Pinocchio, who was made out of wood, with electricity? Yeah, that wouldn't have happened because it was stupid. Also Robin Hood's role would have been worthy of all that advertising before Lacey and I would have moved heaven and earth to have him played by Jonas Armstrong. But since none of the above statements are true, you can clearly see that I don't own it. Sadly.**

She wonders why it hurts so much to learn that he plans on proposing to Emma as soon as she arrives back from Neverland.

He was never hers, after all. Neither was Phillip. She seems to have the worst luck.

Shang was hers, once upon a time, at least she had believed he was, but he had put his duty before his heart and married another. A proper woman, not a warrior. One who would be content to sit at home and be a mother, one who didn't yearn for adventure.

Still… Somehow, she had hoped Neal would change his mind. That _she_ would finally be chosen.

It was silly and girlish of her and she didn't understand it at all.

She doesn't let him know it hurts. Aurora sees it in her eyes, she knows, but the Princess – her closest friend – doesn't mention it.

"Storybrooke is a new chance for all of us," Aurora whispers when one of the dwarves runs past saying the Jolly is coming in and Neal takes off to meet it, "There must be someone here for you."

…

In the morning, the door to his room at the inn is wide open, and she looks in to see if he's alright. He never leaves his door open.

He looks… Like he's been crying? There is a bottle of whiskey on his bedside table for whatever reason, half consumed. Alcohol is not supposed to be in the rooms, one of Granny's rules.

"Neal?" she says, hesitating to shake him awake.

"She doesn't love me," he says in response.

"Emma?"

"Tha's right," he mutters.

"Does… Does she love Hook or something?" she hesitates again. She remembers the attraction the two had obviously shared.

"No," Neal says, "Don't know 'is name. Henry called 'im Sheriff. But Emma's Sheriff."

She doesn't want to leave him here, alone, but she needs to know more of the story. Emma's half of the story. Emma's half of the _entire_ story, not just this new development.

She goes back down the hall and knocks on Phillip and Aurora's door. Phillip answers quickly.

"Neal needs supervision," she says, jerking her head towards the open door, "And I need to go talk to Emma about why."

…

She finds Emma in the Sheriff's station, in the arms of a tall man with curly brown hair and oddly familiar blue eyes.

"Emma?" she speaks, interrupting the other woman's moment with her apparent lover.

The blonde turns to face her.

"Hey, Mulan," she smiles, "You look… Really different in jeans and a t-shirt. But not bad. Everything all right?"

"I want to know what happened between you and Neal," she cuts to the chase, "All of it. I've heard his side of the story and now I find you rejected his proposal which makes no _sense_ to me from what he told me and he's my friend and he's really upset over this. But you're my friend too, so I want to be fair before I judge you."

"Sit," Emma gestures to a chair. She follows the instruction, and so does the man. Emma sits on his lap and leans into him as he puts his arms around her. She notices they have almost matching straps of some sort on their wrists.

"I was seventeen," Emma starts, "I had spent my entire life in foster homes, completely unloved, believing my parents abandoned me on the side of the road. I got sick of it. I ran away. And I… Stole a car. But Neal was in the backseat. He'd already stolen it from someone else. Anyway, we became a team, stealing things together – and then we became a couple. I don't remember exactly why or when or how the relationship shifted from friends to more, it just did. And one day, right after we planned to stop the life we were living, clean up our acts and settle down… He found this wanted poster for himself, for some watches he'd stolen before we met. He was going to leave me… But I wouldn't let him, I came up with a plan to get rid of the watches and start over, and it's when he went to sell them that everything went straight to hell. I was waiting for him with one of the watches, he said we had to keep it because it looked good on me – and the cops showed up. I got arrested for having it, and sent to jail for 11 months, and they only could've known where I was, and about the watch, if _he_ told them. He never got caught, but he let them catch me! And then I was in jail when I found out I was going to have Henry, and I knew I couldn't be a good mother, not then, so I gave him up for his best chance."

Emma gets more emotional as her story goes on, and Mulan sees the man gives her a reassuring squeeze every once in a while. There is something in the way they are that reminds her of Phillip and Aurora.

"Anyway," Emma continues, "Fast forward ten years and my son comes and gets me and brings me here to Storybrooke to break the curse. And I fall in love with Graham here," the couple quickly brushes their noses together affectionately, "And then I lose him almost immediately when Regina crushes his heart into dust. A few months later, I break the curse and _apparently_ that restored our happy ending by bringing him back to life, but without his Storybrooke memories, so he was hiding in the woods. You know all about the wraith and the portal… Anyway, after Snow and I got back here, we found out Cora and Hook found a way through, too. Just after Hook made himself known, Rumplestiltskin called in a favor I owed him to go out into the rest of the world with him and find his son."

"And it was Neal, the man you once loved," Mulan fills in.

"And he tells me that he left me because Pinocchio told him about my destiny to break the curse, and that his father was in this world, and he _didn't want to see his father ever again_. He left me to avoid his father, and he got me sent to jail for it too."

"That's enough," she says quietly, eyes squeezing shut.

His side of the story had been full of his declarations that he'd been forced to leave Emma for her destiny, that he loved her.

The reality is so much colder. He may have loved her, in a way, but it wasn't a strong enough love because he'd chosen to leave her for his own selfish reasons.

"You're in love with him, aren't you?" the man asks softly. She wonders how he picked up on that.

Her eyes snap open, though, and meet his (they really do look oddly familiar, who the hell is this man?).

"I'm beginning to suspect that I don't know what love feels like," she says, her feelings for Neal unable to reconcile what she now knows he's done.

…

Aurora alone does she tell of this new conflict. She can't tell Emma's side of the story – it's not her place – but she can tell her friend how it makes her feel.

"We knew there was a reason she never spoke of him," the princess says simply, as they sit in Granny's, watching as Belle and Red get into some sort of heated discussion that obviously has something to do with Hook.

"She never spoke of this Graham, either," she points out.

"She thought he was dead, didn't she? You said she believed he died shortly after they even found each other. It was probably too painful for her to think of him, of what she believed would never be."

"We thought Phillip was dead."

"And it was _painful_, Mulan. Not everyone handles pain in the same way! From what we know of Emma – she shuts her pain in the back of her mind and doesn't let it touch her. She's not an open person, why would she have spoken of him? What reason would she have had with _anyone_ other than Snow, and when did her mother even give her a chance? It _makes sense_ that she never spoke of her love."

…

She avoids Neal for a month, ignoring the hole in her heart. He is not who she thought he was. He was never the man he projected himself as, and _that_ is the man she fell for. The man with such capacity for honor, for love, who had his fears, like rejection, but at least he _admitted_ to them…

He never truly existed.

…

She is very good at avoiding him – or so she thinks, until, while she is at Granny's, knowing it is his day with Henry (small towns and three-way split custody of a child cause a _lot_ of talk), he enters, his son nowhere in sight.

And sits at her table.

"I'm sorry," he says.

"I don't believe you technically owe me any apology," she points out, "It's not like the entire story was any of my business. Although you tried to paint yourself as a much better man than you truly were."

"I know. I asked Aurora why you'd been avoiding me and she wouldn't tell me anything except that it had to do with 'why I _really_ left Emma.' I know I was a coward."

"You were more cowardly when you obscured the truth of your nature from me. Did you think I would only help you because Emma was my friend?"

"Yes. I did think that was the only reason you would help. And I wanted… To be near you."

She meets his eyes for a second, trying to understand. He wanted to be near her… But he still chose Emma when they arrived back here?

"You said you left her for her. You left her for yourself," she says, not focusing on his confession but his lie instead.

"Exactly," he says, "I'm a coward. And you… You're a brave and honorable and all-around amazing woman and I don't even deserve to breathe the same air as you. So being the coward that I am, I didn't tell the truth."

"You should've realized this a month ago and come clean instead of running off and asking another woman to marry you," she snaps, standing, "I have to get back to work."

She was given a deputy position, partnered with Emma's father, working during the days that the Sheriff and her Huntsman worked nights.

Really, it had been the only job available in town she could see herself doing. Phillip and Aurora helped with the town council, as all the royals were required to do (except Emma and Graham, who were technically royals – her by birth, him by his relationship with her; though they weren't married yet, everyone knew they one day would be – since she was not raised a royal and knew next to nothing about leading people, and he was uncomfortable around most of the royals, of which there were many), but Aurora also helped Belle at the library and Phillip had started working as security at The Rabbit Hole.

She likes working at the Sheriff's station. There usually isn't much to do – although apparently it had been even more boring before Emma got to town and the most hectic had been right after the curse broke while Emma and Snow were in the Enchanted Forest with her and Aurora – but it is decent work. It is a position of honor.

As she goes to leave, to just walk past him, his hand shoots out and grabs hers.

"You don't have to forgive me," he says, looking up at her with that puppy-face he gets sometimes, "But you have to understand that I'm sorry."

…

Emma is waiting for her at the station instead of David.

"Did something happen?" she asks, confused.

"You tell me," Emma says, crossing her arms, "Red called me, said Neal approached you, and I know Graham was right that first day that you were in love with him. But you've been avoiding him, we _all_ know that, so I wanted to make sure you were okay."

"He apologized. For not telling me the truth, for making it sound like he left you for your own good instead of his own cowardice…"

"That's good, isn't it?"

"He said he did it to be near me, that he thought I wouldn't help him if I knew the whole truth, but when we got here to Storybrooke… He chose _you_, Emma."

"Yeah, I know. But… Okay, did I ever tell you that Graham lied to me, back… Before the curse was broken?"

"Somehow I can't see you letting him get away with that."

"I was furious. I had no _right_ to be furious, he wasn't even my boyfriend and it wasn't any of my business, not really… And I was so upset with him, and I avoided him for… About a day, really. And then he chose me, and I let him in… And he died. We've talked about that, I know. Look, what I'm saying is… If you _love_ Neal, and he _apologized_… Maybe you should give him a chance."

"Emma…"

"He chose me a month ago because he was trying to do right by our son and the feelings we used to have," the blonde interrupts her protest, "He was trying to be honorable. He didn't think you cared. So if you still do… You should go for it. I mean, maybe our situations aren't all that comparable, 'cause I bet Regina still would've killed Graham even if I hadn't pushed him away, maybe even killed him sooner – but if you never let yourself try… Wouldn't you rather try and fail than never try and always wonder?"

"Do you know something I don't?"

"I know he let Regina have his day with Henry just so he could talk to you."

"So… What? You're all in on his plan to woo me?"

"No. I didn't know it was to talk to you until Ruby called. He just told us that he couldn't spend the day with Henry because there was something he needed to do. Just… Look, I'm going to tell you something I told Snow back during the curse – it's one thing to say he wants you, but it's another to actually make a choice. And maybe, a month ago, he did choose me – but he's clearly trying to make up for that in some way by apologizing. And all you can really do… Is hope."

…

Emma had sent her away, insisting that Graham would come in early and the two of them could handle it.

So she walks up and down the streets of Storybrooke, her head down, her hands in her pocket, lost in thought, not paying attention to her surroundings. She has been walking an hour, she thinks, just judging by the shifting of her shadow, when she runs into someone.

"I am so sor…" she starts, looking to see who she ran into.

It is Shang. She hasn't seen him in decades, not since they parted ways, long before the curse, and her heart still aches at the memory.

"Mulan?" he smiles, "Have you been in Storybrooke all this time?"

"No," she shakes her head quickly, "I was… I was one of the few left behind. I only got here about a month ago."

"Something's bothering you," he says, tilting his head, "You could tell me, if you want? I know… It ended badly. But maybe you need a fresh ear?"

"It's nothing," she says, biting her lip. She can't talk to _Shang_ about _Neal_.

"It's not nothing, Mulan, I know you. If nothing was bothering you, you wouldn't have run into me."

"Shang, I really can't do this," she shakes her head.

"You're in love," he accuses, "That's why you don't want to talk to me, because you've fallen in love again."

"It's NOT any of your BUSINESS," she snaps, knowing that he won't buy a denial. He could always tell when she was lying. Well, almost always.

He leans on a nearby lamppost, crossing his arms.

"So does he not love you back or did he upset you somehow?"

"He lied to me. About… Well, it doesn't matter what it was about, just, he lied to me. Because he was afraid if I knew the truth I'd never be able to stand him."

"And you didn't break his legs?" he chuckles.

"Don't you have a _wife_ you should be getting home to?" she asks, _desperate _to bring an end to this conversation. Something dark crosses Shang's face.

"She died before the curse," he informs her, "In childbirth. Her and the baby both."

"Oh," she bites her lip, feeling like a fool, "I'm sorry… I didn't know…"

"I know you didn't; you were off looking for the Yaoguai when it happened. You never came home from that."

"Yeah… I made friends and… One of them was on a quest to find his True Love, who was under a sleeping curse… So I helped," she shrugs.

"And you escaped the curse, and then a month ago you make it to Storybrooke… And at some point during all this you fall in love with a man who lied to you?"

"It's not important."

"I don't believe you," he shakes his head, "I think you want to give him another chance but you feel like you'd be betraying yourself to after he lied. Tell me something, did he apologize?"

"Yes."

"Then give him a chance. If he does it again, then you know."

…

She hesitates to knock on his door at the inn. She still hasn't forgiven him but…

She wants to.

Emma was right, she'd rather try and fail than never try at all. Never trying at all was the coward's way. She was not a coward. She was not afraid. Or at least… She wasn't so afraid that she wasn't even going to try.

She knocks.

It only takes a minute for him to open it, but it's long enough that she's starting to reconsider. She is _nervous_ as _hell_.

"Hey," he says, a small smile almost on his face, "What're… What're you doing here?"

"You're _not_ forgiven – not yet. But I want… I want to forgive you. So… I'm offering you a second chance. I won't avoid you anymore, and… Well… Look, let's just start over?" Gods, what _is_ it about this man that sets her so on edge? She had been able to keep her cool at first but… She was certainly getting steadily worse.

"I like that idea."

…

"Neal and I decided to start over with a clean slate for a while."

"I'm so glad," Aurora says, sitting with her in the park – it is her day off, and she has nothing better to do than spend time with her friend – "Because you know, I was a little afraid that me and Emma and everybody were going to have to stage an intervention on you two."

"What?"

"Oh, come on! You've been _miserable _making yourself avoid him! And he's been miserable _because_ you've been avoiding him. It's been so _obvious_."

"It has not!"

"I told you, I know love when I see it. The two of you have been ridiculously obvious from the start."

"You have got to be kidding me."

"I am not kidding you, I talked to Emma! She said even her boyfriend picked up on it! Actually, she told me _Henry_ picked up on it with the way you two have been acting! You're so obviously in love with each other that a _child_ has picked up on it."

"I have _not_ been that obvious. I barely even know Henry."

"You're in denial!"

"I haven't even forgiven him yet, you can't tell me…"

"It's cute how you think that just because you won't admit it, you haven't forgiven him. We're _best friends_, Mulan, I think it's fair to say I know you."

"I have _not_ forgiven him."

"Yes, you _have_," Aurora laughs, shaking her head, "Stop trying to deny it."

…

Almost five more months. That's how long it takes for the relationship to progress past a tentative and somewhat shaky friendship to anything beyond that, and the entire time is torture. She wants them to be more but he's moving so _slowly_.

They are having drinks at Granny's – as _friends_, he insists – when Snow and David come in, Snow beaming ear to ear and David looking rather gloomy.

"What's the good news, Snow?" Granny asks, shouting it across the restaurant. Mulan has an idea that Emma and Graham have just gotten engaged, just from the look on David's face. He likes Graham well enough, but Emma's his baby girl. And as his partner at work, she has learned to read him pretty well.

"Emma and Graham are getting married!" Snow confirms her suspicions, "Oh, but don't tell anyone I told. They'll want to spread the news themselves."

Mulan rolls her eyes at Snow's request for secrecy, and glances over at Neal, wondering how he feels about the news. There is still a part of her brain that won't let go of the fact that he chose Emma all those months ago, even if Emma didn't choose him back. And he keeps saying that they're only friends.

His body language is still relaxed. There's no indication that Emma's engagement bothers him at all. It's odd, since she knows that he hates Graham. The animosity is mutual between them, ever since Graham punched him out for abandoning Emma. She won't say he didn't deserve it; she's not blind to his faults or mistakes, not this time. Besides, it was nice to see that devotion Graham had to Emma that he would take such offense to slights made to her long before they even met.

"Think Snow will be planning them a giant wedding that Emma wants no part of?" she jokes, a little scared to upset him but at the same time… She can't think of anything else to say.

"She can try, but knowing Emma, she won't succeed," he shrugs, still as relaxed as ever.

"This really doesn't bother you," she smiles. Maybe this is a major step. It _feels_ like a major step.

"Should it? My personal feelings about Graham aside, Emma's happy with him, Henry is getting a stepfather who he loves and who actually cares about him… Besides. I am currently sharing a drink with my best friend in the entire world."

Her heart drops a little. His best friend? She wanted… She wanted so much more than that.

"I mean… I would've asked her on a date but now that my ex is getting married, the timing feels rather rude," he continues, looking over at her with a sly smile.

"Screw that," she says, "Your ex has been covertly trying to set us up for months."

"What?"

"Actually it hasn't even been that covert, the day you apologized she's the one who really got me thinking about forgiving you. And then I ran into _my_ ex, and… Well. You know. I got talked into trying."

"Emma. Has been trying to get you to go out with me?"

"Apparently she and Aurora were plotting behind our backs if things hadn't gotten better when they did."

"They were going to stage an intervention?"

"Supposedly."

"Well then. Would you like to go on a date sometime?"

"I would love to."


	6. Part Five - Beauty Hunting

_Beauty Hunting_

**A/N: Belle-centric, because in "Three Times" I have Rumplestiltskin see the Huntsman and I mention that while everyone is in Neverland she comes to the forest looking for something or someone. The title just refers to the fact that Belle (Beauty) is "hunting" for Graham under Rumple's instruction during an admittedly minor section of the story. Once again, special thanks to Grahams Shoelace, for all your encouragement and especially for your acceptance of my totally random weird headcanon that will probably never happen in-show. It needed someone to believe in it before it would come out of my head and onto the page. And of course for reading it over for me. AND YES FOLKS – QUITE A BIT OF THIS PART IS THE EXPLORATION OF MY HEADCANON.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Once Upon a Time, Graham never would have died in the first place, and he and Emma would probably be married by now, and Neal and Bae would not be the same person, and did you see that time Tamara killed Pinocchio, who was made out of wood, with electricity? Yeah, that wouldn't have happened because it was stupid. Also Robin Hood's role would have been worthy of all that advertising before Lacey and I would have moved heaven and earth to have him played by Jonas Armstrong. But since none of the above statements are true, you can clearly see that I don't own it. Sadly.**

_Belle's Cell, Tower, Regina's Castle, Enchanted Forest, post-Hook breaking in, pre-curse_

Ever since the pirate came, Belle now has a guard in the cell with her. During the day, it is always the same man. He has kind blue eyes and curly light brown hair and she gets the feeling that he is just as much a prisoner as she is. At night, the Queen takes him away and sends in someone else, not usually the same man twice, and Belle knows in her heart that whatever she is making the day guard do, he doesn't want to do it.

They have talked, a little, and his distaste for the Queen is obvious to Belle, even though he doesn't tell her much about his personal situation, why he works for this woman he cannot stand, and she wonders if he's protecting her from hearing about his situation or if he thinks that he will be punished if someone were to overhear what he had to say.

Emotionally, he seems detached, but she can tell he is a good man.

She hopes someday they will both be able to escape.

_Belle's Cell, Tower, Regina's Castle, Enchanted Forest, Curse Day_

"Regina is casting a curse as we speak," he says, his face dark, hope lost. He's never had much hope, but the look on his face is even worse than usual. He is _desolate_. It makes her heart ache.

"What kind of curse?" Belle asks, "Tell me about it."

"All of us will be ripped away from this place and stripped of who we are so she can be happy, the only one who knows the truth, the only one who is still who they truly are."

"All curses can be broken," Belle insists. She _needs_ to restore his hope, soon, or she will surely lose her own. She doesn't know why, but she can feel it.

"The rumors are that Snow White's unborn daughter will break it sometime after she turns 28," he explains, "That's what Rumplestiltskin told her, anyway."

"He hates the Queen, I know he does, he threw me out because he thought I was working with her, why would he give her that information?"

"Some sort of deal that he would be comfortable in the new world that the curse creates, I think."

He sits on the bench next to her and runs a hand through his curls.

"None of us will _remember_," he says, and she can hear that this truly upsets him, "Except her. She'll know who we all are and continue to torment us and use us… And we'll just obey…"

"Hey," she puts a hand on his arm to reassure him, "It _will_ be broken, one day. She _will_ lose her power. Who knows, maybe it will even let us be friends."

_Granny's Diner, Storybrooke, Maine, Shortly after the first post-curse full moon_

"Red?" Belle calls, bringing her new friend back to the table.

"Yeah?" Red asks.

"Back home, when Regina had me captive, there was a man who guarded me sometimes. Every day, really. He was my friend. And… I haven't seen him around. I thought maybe you could tell me where he is."

"What do you remember about him?" Red asks, biting her lip, and Belle almost thinks that Red already knows where she's about to go.

"He didn't have a name, not one that he ever told me, anyway. He had these kind blue eyes and curly light brown hair and this accent that I've never heard anyone else with before or since…"

"That sounds like Graham," Red says, her eyes filling with sadness, "He was the Sheriff under the curse."

"You said that Snow's daughter was the Sheriff."

"We elected her, yeah. After Graham… After Graham died. We didn't know at the time, but hindsight's a bitch, and, well, the Queen had his heart and crushed it into dust. I feel so sorry for Emma. It was obvious they had feelings for each other and he died in her arms."

_Mr. Gold's Pawn Shop, Storybrooke, Maine, Trigger-Day, just after Trigger is stopped_

"Belle, dearie, I have something I want you to do," Rumplestiltskin says, pulling out a cardboard box with things inside that she has never noticed before.

"What is it?" she asks, brimming with curiosity.

"There was a man… Well, when we were first cursed he was the Sheriff," Rumple starts explaining.

"My old guard from Regina's palace?" Belle interrupts, "Red told me that he died."

"He did," Rumplestiltskin admits, "But something must have happened when the curse broke, because on the night Hook shot you, I saw him in the forest. I was going to tell Miss Swan, because he's her True Love, but then Bae was Henry's father and still in love with her and I knew that if she knew the Huntsman was alive, Bae wouldn't stand a chance. But Bae is gone now and would want her to be happy. I can't approach him, but I was hoping that you could. Find out if he remembers Storybrooke and such."

…

While everyone is in Neverland, Belle goes to the Storybrooke forest once a month, looking for the Huntsman, as Rumple called him.

She does not find him.

She thinks about asking Red for help, the other woman's werewolf senses would come in handy, but Red wouldn't understand why she's looking for a dead man. She doesn't want to explain that the search may be for nothing, because if he doesn't remember, Rumple had made it clear not to drag him away from the forest. That when everyone returned, they would go back out together and he would find a way to convince the Huntsman to come back and the Savior would restore his memories – but until then, if he didn't remember, leave him alone. Don't force him into anything.

She remembers how miserable he was working for the Queen and knows that it's for the best that she listen to Rumple's advice.

…

Belle is in the shop, trying to figure out if any of Rumple's magic artifacts will help her find the Huntsman, when the bell chimes.

"Hello, dearie," Rumple's voice carries softly across the shop.

Belle smiles at the sight of him and runs into his arms.

"You're home," she says into his shoulder, "Is Henry okay?"

"He's fine, dearie. Have you found the Huntsman?"

"Not yet," Belle shakes her head, "I think he's avoiding me."

"Makes sense," he replies thoughtfully, "he always was more comfortable in the woods than around people."

"So what do we do?"

"Tomorrow, we go looking for him. Together."

…

Belle goes into Granny's for lunch around noon the next day. She and Rumple are planning on going into the forest after dinner.

Hook is there, flirting with Red. Her blood boils a bit; she has a deep and abiding loathing for the pirate. Beyond that, though, Rumple had told her that Hook was in a relationship with Emma, and she really can't stand it when people betray their partners.

In the end, she lets her personal reasons for hating the pirate get the better of her, grabbing Red's arm and dragging her a short distance away.

"You know he's the one who shot me, right?" she says. She doesn't bother trying to stop him from hearing.

"Yes, I know, I was there for the aftermath," Red rolls her eyes, "And honey, I love you like a sister, but that's not going to stop me from seeing him."

"_He shot me_," she lets out, a hiss, trying to convey exactly how much she hates him, "I lost my memories because of him."

"And I apologize," he says. His tone almost sounds sincere. Almost, but not quite enough that she'll believe him.

"I was in a very dark place at the time."

She glares at him. Does he _honestly_ think she'll forgive him? Honestly?

"Belle, listen to me," Red says, "I _know_ he's a major asshole – sorry, Killian, but you know it's true – I would have to be totally ignorant not to. But… In a really weird way… He understands me. How the whole wolf thing makes me feel. Do you get that?"

She looks at her friend, torn. She can't ignore that Red likes this guy.

"I thought you said Victor understood that, though?" she asks, she has to ask, Red has been with Victor for a long time now and she's just suddenly in love with the pirate?

"I thought he did, but… He was _way_ more concerned with his _obsession_ with getting his brother back than he ever was with me."

"_He's_ obsessed with his revenge on Rumple," Belle points out, gesturing to the pirate.

"No," he shakes his head, "I'm not anymore. The air will never be entirely clear between the Crocodile and I – there has been far too much bad blood for us to ever stop hating each other – but I know now, revenge would never truly solve anything. I was clinging to it… Because it was all I had. If I had ever succeeded? I would've had nothing. But it's not all I have anymore."

The speech is moving, she'll give him that. It doesn't even sound forced or rehearsed.

"Okay, look," she sighs after a minute, "I _can't_ forgive him for what he's done to me. _However_, I can tolerate him – and try to convince Rumple to not murder him – for your sake. And because he helped save Henry. But don't ask me for anything more than tolerance, okay? I'm never going to be friends with him."

"I totally understand!" Red smiles, and gives her a hug.

"Thank you," he says. Again, it almost sounds sincere. She shrugs and starts to leave, deciding to talk to Rumple sooner rather than later about this development.

The door opens in front of her and Emma walks in on the Huntsman's arm.

She is _frozen_ in place. She can't believe it. _Months_ she searches for him, finding nothing, and then somehow he is miraculously a member of the community? Or _something_?

"Belle," he smiles, "Good to see you, friend."

"Months!" she shouts, "For _months_ I look for you in the forest because Rumple asked me to find out if you remember Storybrooke while everyone was away, and you evade me at every turn, and then as soon as I turn my back for five seconds you're here in town like nothing's wrong?"

"I'm sorry," he says, with a grin, a _grin!_ She's _never_ seen him grin! "I didn't remember anything about Storybrooke… Until my Emma found me."

He gives the blonde a squeeze. Belle takes a moment to study him.

"There's something different about you," she says, "and it's not just that you've fallen in love."

"Wait a second," Emma interrupts, "How do you two know each other?" She glares up at the Huntsman, "Graham, do I have a reason to be worried?"

He laughs and kisses the blonde's forehead.

"Gods, no, love. Belle was a prisoner in Regina's castle. I had to guard over her a lot after Hook broke in and nearly killed her."

"Really?" Emma says, looking at her, "Hook tried to kill you back _then_ too?"

"He pretended to be there to break me out, but he was trying to get me to tell him how to kill Rumple and when I wouldn't cooperate… Well, I remember he knocked me out. If Graham says he nearly killed me, I assume it must be true… She did say your name was _Graham_, right?"

"Yes," he nods, "Graham. Graham Humbert."

"_Deputy_ Graham Humbert," Emma corrects.

"Of course, Sheriff Swan," he nods, bending down a little to catch her lips. Belle thinks it's adorable.

"We were going to go into the woods looking for you tonight, mister!" she scolds him again.

"Belle," he says, "I'd really just like to get lunch with my girlfriend, and _not_ talk about all the shit Regina put me through."

Something dark flashes across his eyes and Belle knows better than to press it. His hatred of the Queen is more obvious than ever just in that split second. It's _chilling_.

…

The organization of the library is a larger project than she ever would have thought. Nearly two years in and she's _still_ finding random books from the old land in very poor places. That's part of why she took on Aurora to help her.

It's been three months since everyone returned to Storybrooke when she finds, oddly enough, her mother's diary. _That_ surely cannot go back on the shelves. But as she goes to put it in her purse so it will come home with her, a sheet of paper flutters out.

It's a letter, she realizes.

_Rosette,_

_The news from your husband's lands has reached our fair city, our Avonlea. I am an uncle to twins, am I? Please, Rosette, assure me their looks do not come from their father. And bring them to visit as soon as you are up to the task. The elder, the boy – Alain, was it? – is heir to our lands, after all. He should know what he's to inherit._

_Adieu for now, my dear._

_Your brother,_

_Luc_

Belle stares at the letter for a good five minutes trying to wrap her head around it.

_Twins? _ Her mother had _twins_ at some point? She wasn't an only child?

"Aurora, close up early," she says, tossing the princess her keys, and putting the diary and the letter in her purse.

She's distracted, but manages to make her way to her father's flower shop. She hasn't been here since he tried to erase her memories.

"Belle," he says when he sees her, a weak smile lighting his face.

"What is this?" she asks, pulling the letter out of her purse, "I found Mama's diary in the library and this fell out. It says she had _twins_. That's impossible."

He slumps back against the counter, almost looking defeated.

"We lost Alain when the two of you were just babes," he says, "You were too young to remember, so we thought it was for the best we kept it from you."

"How?"

"He was taken from us. Kidnapped."

…

Emma and Graham are engaged after a few more months, and Belle insists that she and Rumple find something in the storeroom to give them that belongs to their family.

Unfortunately, she has no idea what belongs to their family, so she's rather useless.

Something silver glints at her from the back of the room. She heads over to see what it is, and is intrigued by the sight of the hand mirror, shoved unceremoniously behind a few larger objects.

She's seen it before.

It was her mother's. She barely remembers her mother, but there are a few things that stand out. This mirror is one of them. Towards the end, it had always been at her side. She had looked into it whenever she thought Belle was distracted.

She pulls it out and looks into the glass, wondering why her mother was so fond of it. The glass appears to ripple and shift from obvious magic; Emma and Graham appear instead of a reflection, sitting at Granny's diner.

She gasps, nearly dropping the mirror. Why has it shown her that?

"Something wrong, dearie?" Rumple asks from his position on the other side of the storeroom, where he's going through boxes looking for anything of Snow and Charming's belongings to return to them that actually _fits_ the occasion of their daughter's engagement. The two of them had agreed that Emma's mobile was a little premature.

"Why do you have this?" she asks, still staring in shock at the happy couple. She hears him making his way over to her, but cannot tear her eyes from the mirror.

"Because it's mine," he says, plucking it out of her hands, "The deal was that when your mother could no longer use it, I would collect it."

"You… Enchanted my mother's hand mirror? Why?"

He looks at the mirror oddly.

"Enchanted? Well, yes, dearie, I did, but the spell is long worn off by now."

"But it showed me…"

"What were you thinking about when it showed you something?"

"I wondered why Mama was so attached to it, at the end. It's one of my clearest memories of her."

"And what did it show you?" his voice is a bit softer now.

"Emma and Graham at the diner."

He nods, as though this makes sense to him.

"Perhaps, dearie, I should tell you a story."

_Flashback (Rumple POV) – Pre-Curse Enchanted Forest – Maurice's Castle_

"All magic comes with a price, dearie, are you _sure_ you're willing to pay it?" Rumplestiltskin asks the lord of this particular castle. He knows the man is desperate but the wife is a wildcard. She's not been included on this conference – she's visiting some of the villagers – but she doesn't like it when people make decisions for her.

"Absolutely," the man says, "I cannot lose Rosette. She's dying… Your magic is the only cure."

The Dark One pulls out a vial. It contains the potion that will cure the lady of the house but… He's not entirely sure the man knows what he's getting into with this deal.

He waves his other hand and a contract and quill appears on the table. Maurice, that is the lord's name, doesn't even hesitate, signing the contract without a second glance and grabbing the potion.

He doesn't bother to tell the man what he's just signed away; he'll find out soon enough.

He transports himself into the nursery, where two sleeping babes lie. Young enough they won't remember the moments of their lives that have already transpired. The girl-child is already her mother in miniature, her dark curls spread around her head like a halo. He ignores her. She is not important. Not right now.

It is the boy-child, in the second crib, who has his attention. His hair is lighter than his sister's, curlier too.

And someday, Rumplestiltskin knows, this boy will be key in all his plans. One of the many pawns, like the little shepherd boy or the princess or that witch _Cora's_ child. This boy is just as important as any of the others.

He almost feels bad for what's going to happen to the boy.

For a fleeting second, using his foresight to look into the boy's future, he considers taking him in instead of his true plans. Raising him, doing right for him what he couldn't for Baelfire – but he dismisses it as soon as it occurs. This is not about getting a second chance with a different child – this is about getting a second chance with his _own_ child.

As he picks the boy up gently in his arms, tiny blue eyes flutter open.

Two identical sets of them, to be exact. The boy and girl have both awakened, and the girl is staring intently at him as he holds her brother.

Oh, her calculating little eyes know _exactly _what he's doing, but she's still far too young to ever remember. She will never be anyone's fool, however, that is for sure.

Feeling an awkward need to break the silence, he quickly says, "Goodbye, dearie," and gives the girl a curt nod before transporting himself, and the boy, away with his magic.

He winds up in the forest. There is a wolf there, staring at him, along with several pups. He places the boy at the wolf's feet. She will know what to do.

The smallest pup, a white pup, its eyes two different colors – red and black – quickly snuggles next to the boy.

He makes a decision, putting a spell on the pup so that it will live a long life at the boy's side. The boy will need that kind of constancy. He knows it. Whatever the price will be for the spell, he is glad to pay it. It is the least he can do for the boy, with the fate he just consigned him to.

…

At the gates of the Dark Castle is a woman. Her blue eyes are ice cold. Full of anger, hatred.

Yes, she was a wildcard, he had been right about that.

"I want my son back, Dark One," she spits, holding out the potion that her husband traded little Alain away for.

"Not going to happen, dearie," he says, "your son is a very important little boy. I just put him on the path to his destiny… And eventually, the path to his True Love. You want to take that away from him?"

"Your powers of foresight are a sham," she accuses.

"Are they? I can describe her for you, if you like," he offers, "Not that you'll be around to meet her, since you refuse to drink that potion your husband traded so much for."

"I want my son back, _Rumplestiltskin_," she repeats her request, this time using his name like it has power. Names do have power, yes, but he doesn't make his identity secret. He flaunts his name, lets everyone know it. Names get their power in different ways. He makes his name feed his power.

"You cannot have him. But… I could enchant your mirror for you. Allow you to watch over him. Assure yourself he's fine."

"What would you want in exchange?"

"When you can no longer use the mirror… It's mine."

"Deal."

_End Flashback_

"This mirror," Belle says, trying to make sense of Rumple's tale, "Was enchanted so my mother could watch over my brother… Who my father signed away to you without a second thought?"

"Correct, dearie."

"And… It showed me… Graham and Emma."

"If you say so."

"Are you… Are you trying to tell me that Graham is my _brother_?"

She wants to say that it's impossible – she wants to say that she would have realized – but there are signs, she supposes. The connection they shared, as prisoners of the Queen. There was that time on girl's night when Mulan had said that Graham's eyes were familiar but she couldn't place them and it was freaking her out and Aurora had just shrugged and said "they're the same as Belle's."

"He is."

"What do… What do I do? Do I tell him? He'll never believe me. Do I confront Papa? I…"

"You do nothing for now, dearie. You're right, he'll never believe you. And your… Papa… Has no real right to know his son. Your brother is a good man, Belle, but telling him the truth will change everything for him. Do you really want to do that?"

"It will not change _everything_ – it won't change what he has with Emma."

"You want to tell your brother that he was abandoned in the woods not by his parents, as he believed, but by the man you're in love with? Does that _sound_ like a wise idea to you?"

"That's another thing – you _knew_ that he would suffer growing up like that! How could you just condemn him to that fate?"

"Because it was the only way I would ever find Bae."

"I thought… I thought that was the curse?"

"Think about it dearie, without your brother the curse never would have happened. Regina hired him to kill Snow White, to carve out her heart. Any other Huntsman would have done so, and Snow would have died, and Regina's revenge would have been complete – he didn't. Then, Regina had Charming as a captive and Snow under a sleeping curse – your brother is the one who freed the prince, so he could awaken Snow – foiling Regina's revenge once more. She became desperate enough to cast the curse because of him – and Snow and Charming could create the Savior because of him."

"If I… If I can't tell him, what do I do?"

"You keep helping me search for their engagement present."


	7. Mini Part 2 - Righteous Fury

_Righteous Fury_

**A/N: Mini-Part. After writing in the Mulan chapter that Graham had punched Neal, I wasn't planning on making a scene out of it… But then I realized I had to. Set one week post-return from Neverland. The headcanon as revealed last chapter will come back **_**eventually**_** (I wouldn't include it for no reason) but not right away. However even in the stuff between its appearances, you have to realize that Belle knows and it's going to affect her.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Once Upon a Time, Graham never would have died in the first place, and he and Emma would probably be married by now, and Neal and Bae would not be the same person, and did you see that time Tamara killed Pinocchio, who was made out of wood, with electricity? Yeah, that wouldn't have happened because it was stupid. Also Robin Hood's role would have been worthy of all that advertising before Lacey and I would have moved heaven and earth to have him played by Jonas Armstrong. But since none of the above statements are true, you can clearly see that I don't own it. Sadly.**

Graham paces the station, his jaw clenched, curling and uncurling his hands into fists. His brother is perched on the cot in the cells, watching him as though he's the most interesting thing in the world.

A week ago, he'd learned how… _Baelfire_… Had abandoned Emma. He'd tried to sit on it, because the man was clearly brokenhearted, and because Emma would never approve of his doing anything to Henry's father.

But he wants nothing more than to _murder_ the man for hurting her.

He could do it. He could easily kill Rumplestiltskin's bastard of a son for what he did to Emma. He wouldn't even feel a little bit sorry for it, either, in true _Huntsman_ form.

But then he remembers Henry. Henry would hate it if he did anything to the man. Henry would hate _him_ if he did anything to the man. Emma probably wouldn't be too pleased with him either, might kick him out of the loft as punishment, and he has nowhere else to go. Except the woods, of course, but he'd rather stay with her.

Still, it's the thought of Henry hating him that makes him pause; he'd always tried to be there for the boy, as much as Regina would allow. It hadn't been nearly enough but it had been something. He wants Henry to accept him as a step-father when the time comes that he and Emma are married – he is already scouring the town for an engagement ring, that is how sure he is of his love for his princess – and that will never happen if he kills the boy's actual father.

"Graham," Emma says from the doorway, "What are you doing?"

It pulls him from his thoughts and he stops pacing, looking to his princess, losing his breath at the sight of her.

"I want to kill him, Emma," he admits, "I know I can't but I want to so much."

She comes over to him and wraps him in a hug, which he gladly returns.

"Even though I disapprove totally," she says into his shoulder, "It means a lot to me that you feel that way."

"He abandoned you, he knew you'd been abandoned your whole life and he betrayed you and…"

"I know Graham, and it hurts, but killing him won't solve anything; it will just create more problems."

"And after all of that he still had the nerve to try and win you back!"

"Hey, he conceded defeat when you came into the picture."

"Oh, yes, _that's_ why Mulan came asking about your side of the story, and why Granny lodged a complaint that he was in flagrant violation of her room policies, because he was conceding defeat!"

"I didn't say he handled his defeat particularly well after he conceded it."

"Em…"

"If it makes you feel any better, you have my permission to hurt him a little. But no killing, okay?"

It does make him feel better. Not because it's permission to hurt the man; because it is Emma accepting his drive to protect her, to protect his mate. She is fiercely, stubbornly independent, so much like her mother in the fact that she doesn't need anyone else to protect her, and when they first met he would've sworn that she would hate it if anyone tried. But he has expressed his desire to protect her and she isn't fighting it, isn't rolling her eyes and saying that it's the 21st century and she can protect herself – she's saying she will let him protect her. Maybe not as fully as he'd like, but it is still something. It is something and it is perfect.

…

After work they go to The Rabbit Hole for drinks. Red and Killian are there as well, so the two couples sit together. He's not entirely sure why, but he likes the pirate. He's a horrible person – if he'd met Killian back before he met Snow he wouldn't have hesitated to kill him if they got in a fight (of course, that's how he felt about most everyone before he met Snow) – but, unlike all the men he'd fought back then, Killian treats him like an actual human being. Even goes out of his way to talk to him whenever they spot each other in town. For whatever reason, the pirate seems to respect him.

Another advantage of the curse, he supposes; it gave him his princess; most people don't bother him about the wolf thing anymore, though his brother still comes with him most everywhere; and he's actually got friends in this world.

Out of the corner of his eye he catches sight of Baelfire, standing at the jukebox. It is the first time he's actually seen the man since the first day back. Emma's permission to hurt him comes back and he decides to listen to his anger. Maybe get it out of his system.

He must've tensed up, because as he rises from his seat Emma places a hand on his arm and looks at him imploringly. She wants him to explain what he's doing, he can see it in her eyes.

He jerks his head in Baelfire's direction, and follows her gaze as she takes in the sight of her ex.

"One punch," she says, "And maybe you can shove him against the wall. But that's _it_."

"I promise," he agrees.

He strides towards Baelfire with purpose, letting his hatred come to the surface for the short time it takes him to cross the room.

He hurt Emma. He got her sent to jail. He's why she had to give up Henry. He's why Henry was raised by Regina. And all because he didn't want to see his father. He has more than earned Graham's wrath.

He taps on the man's shoulder, and as Baelfire turns towards him, before the other man can even get a word out, he lets his fist fly. There is a satisfying crunch and Baelfire's hand flies to his nose, which is starting to bleed.

The entire room falls silent.

"What the hell?" Baelfire cries.

"You abandoned Emma," he growls, pinning Baelfire to the wall just as Emma had suggested, "Her whole life she was alone and you not only leave her, you get her in trouble with the law. You're the reason Henry grew up feeling unloved, because you practically forced Emma to give him up!"

"That was years before you ever even knew her, what the _hell_?"

"It doesn't matter how long ago it was," Graham releases him, "Emma is my mate and I would hunt down everyone who ever hurt her if I could leave this town."

He backs away from the other man, and Emma's hand is on his shoulder – he knows it's her without even looking; her touch is gentle and reassuring.

"Emma, would you talk down your boyfriend?" Baelfire asks, still clutching his nose.

"I already did," she says, "He wanted to kill you. You're welcome. Come on, Graham, let's go home and get you some ice for that hand."

He nods his assent to her suggestion and wraps his arm around her waist as they go to leave, his brother falling in step beside them. Red gives him a thumbs up from where she and Killian are still sitting. He's not totally fulfilled in his want to cause Baelfire harm, but it's enough for now. He's made his point. Anyone who tries to hurt his Emma will pay.


End file.
